Million gifted babies
by agmartin40
Summary: Something had happened to Rachel, and she doesn't know what. But her entire life is going to change. I'm bad with summaries. RaVy. M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters, and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I didn't like Pierce, so don't be surprised if I don't mention him, or if I kill him, I have yet not decided that. I will add some characters of my own, and please, bare with me a little, I swear I will explain everything eventually. This is my first attempt on writing a fic in English, (I'm Mexican, and I mostly read and write in Spanish). If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you're been warned.

And, also if someone has the names of Ivy's parents, please tell me, I'll be forced to name them for this.

Gen, I want to say thank you very much for your help in the corrections of this chapter. I really appreciated your insights.

Angiosse went through this chapter correcting all the grammar I had wrong on it. If any mistake has left, It's entirely my fault. Thank you very much for your help, Angiosse.

**MILLION GIFTED BABIES**

PROLOGUE

The terrified screams were drilling a hole into my brain. I woke up with a gasp, sitting down in reflex to the tension rising through my body. The air pressure changed a little as the door in front of me opened. I felt my skin crawling with goose bumps due to the screams still filling my head, and the light forced me to shut my eyes before I could see who had entered. An image was clear behind my eyelids, An image of Ivy falling down to a carpeted floor, her face contorted with pain, surprise, and fear, blood flowing from her silky lower lip - torn by one of her own fangs - as she received a treacherous blow she didn't expect. One side of her face bounced against a fluffy carpet, as she tried and failed to remain awake.

I opened my eyes again, unaware of my own person or the place I was, horrified by what I had witnessed. Somehow I was sure of one thing: Ivy was in terrible danger. Then the horrified screams came back to drill into my brain.

_Wait a minute! The screams are inside my head!_ I realized as a nurse came by my side, telling me to stay I was thinking, still sitting on a bed I didn't know, in a hospital room I had never seen before. _Yes, the screams begging for help are inside my brain,_ I decided, _and Ivy is in danger!_ I closed my eyes again and I could see a broken image of Rynn Cormel and a woman that could be no other than Ivy's mother approaching the body of my beloved vamp. Ivy closed her eyes, black as sin in fear, finally she lost consciousness. And then I saw nothing more than blackness behind my eyelids.

She was in the hands of two undead vampires. God knew what they were going to do with her. _I have to help her!_ My heart beat frantically and my body stiffened with resolution.

The moment I decided to go to Ivy, the screams inside my head ceased. I ignored the nurse and got out of the bed. I felt little pulls on my skin as a bunch of electrodes came detached from, and the cardiac monitor went dead. I felt a pinch on the back of my hand, and I saw the IV attached to my vein._ I hate these things; they're positively criminal! _I tore the damn thing out of my hand without minding the pain and the blood dripping out of the little wound I left on it. _God, I know that carpet, Ivy is in her parents' house! This is getting better already. _I saw my awful hospital garment in faded blue, and grabbed the coat left in a chair near the bed. It smelled like Ivy, it must have belonged to her. She always stayed with me when I got myself into a hospital; she knew I hated them and why I did. She was always trying to help me. A warm wave filled my heart as I remembered more than one occasion Ivy had stood by me._ And now is my turn to help her. I have to go to the Tamwood estate and get Ivy out of there safe and sound!_

I rushed to the door and astonished the nurse, shutting her up with my threatening glare. I put the long black leather coat on as I got outside the door. _Better and better._ I saw the two vamps by the coffee machine down the corridor and the elevator just a few steps from my room. I launched myself into the elevator whilst a blonde doctor came out of it; she was running towards my room.

The two vamps were already coming for me, but for once my luck didn't suck dishwater, and the doors closed before the vamps could do anything to stop them. I punched the controls hoping no one could stop the elevator while it went up. I looked for a line, but I was stuck underground.

_Damn, could the freaking elevator go any slower?_ I could take a deep breath the second I felt the line, I tapped into it and I started to spindle as much ley line power as I could. I was about to face not one, but two undead vamps, and I knew this wouldn't be easy. I had never before tried to ride solo on the lines; I was about to do it; I only had to focus on Ivy, and I would pull through. I was certain now that I would rather die trying save her than do nothing, expecting things to solve themselves. I would never abandon Ivy to her luck again! I would never leave her by her own in trouble again. _I love Ivy Tamwood, and I will stand against not only two undead vampires, but an entire army of raging demons for her. I would gladly die for my Ivy, anytime._

When the elevator's doors opened, I saw two more vamps waiting for me. I recognized one of them as a bodyguard of Rynn Cormel. They came on to me, and they were about to pin me against the elevator wall, but I was so out of there. I just launched myself into the line, wrapped by a coat of ley line power, and my warm love for Ivy, aching to get to her side. They ended up crashing themselves painfully against the elevator wall. _JA! _I allowed a little laughter and then I focused my mind on thinking of Ivy._ My home, my beloved friend, the love of my life, the reason I live, and by this time my damsel in distress._ My heart was hammering against my ribcage when I got out of the line into a beautiful bedroom.

I almost fell to the floor when the sense of reality crashed into me,but I managed to maintain my equilibrium. I had no time for looking around the furniture, I wasn't here for the tour; the first thing on my mind was Ivy's safety. I glanced around anxiously and found her. There, on the bed, she lay unconscious, and a man with a scalpel was inclined over her. Two women were standing by his sides. Ivy had a little pillow over her body, as well as a rough white sheet. I froze seeing the blood on the scalpel, when the man lifted it by the they had scented me and I yelled, just yelled the first words I could think.

"Get your hands off of her!" The three of them were very surprised, and they stepped away from the bed a little. I used the ley line energy I had spindled in my chi to smack them altogether away from her. Then I rushed to her side, still feeling a little dizzy from my trip through the lines, but I had to take her with me right now. I had no time for weakness.

The door slammed open and I saw Rynn Cormel, Ms. Tamwood, Mr. Randall and a crying Erica coming inside in a rush. I froze, not because of them, but for the sight of the blood on the pillow resting over Ivy's body. _Oh God! That isn't a pillow; it's her belly! Ivy is pregnant! How can she be so pregnant?_ My jaw fell a little in horror. Without any thinking I reached for the line cut by the scalpel in her was bleeding, but just the flesh had been cut. I muttered a spell that came to my head while passing a finger over the wound and it healed almost instantly.

Then I felt the movement, the little kicks upon the hand I rested on the newly perfect skin, stretched by the pregnancy. My hand smeared the blood slightly while I extended it, to feel better the baby.

And my brain did it again. I could hear the sighs of relief, the smooth greetings - not in words, they were merely sounds I couldn't describe on words, but somehow I knew what they meant. I didn't pay any attention to the vampires even I knew I should. Ivy's face was breaking my heart. Someone had cleaned the blood in her mouth, but her lip still was swollen and torn. I passed a finger over it, repeating the healing spell; the ley line energy fixed once again her silky skin. There were shadows under her closed eyes, and the eyelids held a lilac color, like she hadn't had any sleep in weeks. Her complexion was sick, no doubt, the skin beyond pale, her rich color gone. Ivy had lost so much weight, she almost looked like a corpse.

Then, I heard a whisper, a longing, hungry whisper, definitely originating inside my head. I had poured into Ivy's lips and mouth some drops of the blood that ran from my little hand wound. The whisper turned into a pleading whine in my head, and before I could process anything, I grabbed the scalpel from the sheet, where it fell from the doctor's hand, and I sliced my wrist open. I put the fresh wound against Ivy's mouth, using my other hand to separate her lips and curl her neck upwards so the warm, vital liquid passed trough her throat smoothly.

The whisper turned into a purr when the first of my blood went down. I rested my free hand tenderly on her belly, and I could feel the kicks. I heard the giggles, the purring of pure satisfaction, and I grasped one thing very clearly. "Twins."

I was probably thinking out loud because a voice I didn't know came from the other side of the bed. A seductive, glorious voice filled with ice and maybe a little scorn.

"How do you know?" it asked with authority. I laid my eyes on her, and I really understood where the beauty in Ivy's features came from. Ivy's mother's complexion was slightly more Asian, her eyes the same almond shape as Ivy's, and she easily could pass for Ivy's sister. She was gorgeous, physically at least.

"I can hear them. This one is active, kicking my hand, like salutes, and this one sounds like a vamp taking blood, just soft purrs and sighs of content." I answered, letting my hand roam softly over the bare belly. One of Ivy's hands came up by my arm and she curled her fingers around it; even in the heavy sleep induced by the drugs they've surely administered to her, she was securing her meal. Her fangs slid inside my wound, seeking more blood than the already freely offered. I flinched in pain until the neurotoxins on her saliva acted over my system, soothing me. Ivy was pulling in big sips. I sounded absentminded even to myself. I was absentminded. This changed everything. Ivy was pregnant. With twins.

"Can you?" the skeptical tone in Ms. Tamwood's voice didn't make me angry. I locked my eyes with hers; they were black, threatening, and hungry. I was bleeding out into Ivy's mouth, and I didn't even care about the desire and hunger in the eyes of Mrs. Tamwood. But she was noticeably surprised. I could smell the pheromones she was throwing at me, and the pheromones Rynn Cormel considered necessary to pump as well mixing in the air around me, but my scars didn't react to them, not the slightest tingle. Not even a little blush, and the pulls from Ivy's lips were ineffective as well. maybe I was too worried and astonished to feel anything right now.

"You could write several books about what I can do, Ms. Tamwood. You don't know the first thing about me, and you can be certain of this: I will kill you or anyone who would try to hurt Ivy. But right now you know the things I don't. Why is Ivy in this state?" I demanded, and the indignation I saw in her eyes didn't scare me. The surprise and the anger I could hear from the other vampire along with the forced laughter from Rynn Cormel didn't trigger any feeling from me. I was much too startled by the poor shape Ivy was in and her advanced pregnancy. I never stopped looking into the dark depths of Ms. Tamwood's eyes.

"You're a real piece of work, Rachel. I told you, Kim." The master vamp said, placing a hand on the shoulder of Ivy's mom. "Ivy is drinking your blood". He pointed with his eyes at my bloody wrist and the pulls of my vamp on it. "And for some reason, she is not puking."

"Hey, maybe I don't have vampire blood, but my blood is as good as anyone's." that tickled my temper a bit. So he thought my blood was not good enough for my Ivy? "What's wrong with her? Why is she sick?" I demanded, yet again. And they exchanged looks. Obviously something that they didn't expect had just happened.

"Ivy is not retaining any food; she hasn't in the last week, nothing. We think it has something to do with her pregnancy. She hasn't tolerated any blood, not since she woke up herself 6 months ago. And she tried when we convinced her or…" his next four words came out as a mumble that made my temper rise again "forced her into it, but she only had to taste it and she vomited it out along with anything else she managed to eat. Lately it had only been getting worse, Rachel." I finally noticed the way he was using my name, and that made me frown slightly as I tried to remain calm. "Over the last 10 or 12 days she has lost a lot of weight and has been incapable of eating any food; she's been living on a little coffee and a little juice. She was too stubborn to terminate the pregnancy, so we have decided that the best way for her to recover is to allow the virus to repair any physical damage we would inflict on her with the termination of the pregnancy in order to save her she would be capable of having other children in better circumstances," He informed me, with his political tone that allowed him to sound good even when they were about to murder two innocent lives against Ivy's will.

I huffed in disapproval and looked head to toe at the undead vamps standing on the other end of the bed side by side. I truly hated the idea of Ivy married to a vamp, and having his children._Wait a minute. Did he say 6 months?_ "6 months?" I shook my head a bit, and regretted it, because that made me dizzier than I already was. Ivy stop pulling, and I retrieved my arm, thankful that she was sated before I couldn't think straight due to blood loss.

I took a dressing bandage from the little table the medical assistants left near the bed, filled with supplies for the ungodly operation they were about to perform; I covered the wound and the bite in my wrist with it. I muttered yet again that spell I didn't know how or where from had come to my mind, and felt the energy of the ley line healing it. I tossed the bloody thing over the medical instruments, that way at least they would have to bring in new sterilized material and I was gaining some time to save Ivy's children. Then I took a glance at my healing wrist and I noticed a scar very near to the vanishing red line on my skin. I shuddered. _I remember this one, just aside my demon mark. It was when Ivy was dying in my arms, and I had wanted to keep her soul attached to her undead body._ A sharp gasp made me cough, and I saw at Ivy again.

"She is alive! She couldn't be pregnant if she were undead. She is alive!" I said totally startled once again, my knees buckled and I sat aside her as my hands ran through my hair. "My God, I'm alive too!" My right hand came on its own to my chest, and a memory of excruciating pain made me tremble a moment. "This can not be!" My heart clenched. _I failed Ivy once again, the damn spell didn't work. Damn it to the Turn!_

One of the Cormel's bodyguards came into the room in a rush.

"Sir, the Morgan witch escaped the hosp…" he trailed off when he saw me in there and he left closing the door on his way out after an apologetic glance towards his boss.

"What you mean, Rachel?" Cormel asked me with elegance and very politely, adopting the patronizing tone of one adult talking to a 6 year old child. "Of course Ivy is alive, you saved her life somehow when she got stake in the heart, 6 months ago. She said that somehow you exchanged your life for hers, switching places. When we reached you the both of you were in comas. Ivy woke up six days later. But you, Rachel," he emphasized the patronizing tone once again by slowing his words for the next part "you have been in coma for 6 entire months and two weeks. It's astonishing that you are walking, spelling, and successfully attacking vampires - living ones, but you knocked them out the same -when you have been sleeping so deeply for more than 6 months." His eyes diverted for one split second from mine to see the three of them scattered on the floor, unconscious, by the wall. I shook my head again. "Nevertheless, I must thank you for saving our dear Ivy's life." He smiled to me, his famous smile. But I wouldn't give a damn for it.

"I was trying to save her soul, not her life. God! I didn't think I could save her life, she had been staked, and if that wasn't enough she also had been stabbed in the abdomen!" I rant bitterly, as if it has been his fault. "Double damn! The freaking thing didn't work as I hoped!" I clenched my jaw, shaking my head in a no motion out of a disappointment and despair that had filled me to the last cell. I sighed tiredly, feeling very depressed.

"Are you saying that you were actually working on that?" he asked quietly

"Of course I was! I love Ivy!" my voice went up two tones at that statement, and it actually felt so good. It was the first time I said it out loud and convinced. No matter I was talking to a bunch of vamps rather unfriendly to me. "I don't ever want to see Ivy without her soul! The task is huge, Rynn." I stared at his eyes "And being shunned doesn't make it any easier. I had been looking for a way, but the answer is not in the University, or in any of the other places I've been searching. I heard rumor though; there is a place in Italy, where demon magic books have been collected for many centuries. I think the answer could be in there, but I have no means to get there. Furthermore the books belong to a camarilla, a very old, very dangerous camarilla. Maybe I could get there, but there's no way I can beat them all by myself, or even to steal their little treasures and get out live enough to take a glimpse into the books." I stated angrily. "I tried the only thing I found suitable to help Ivy, and I failed. At least she's still alive and I have another chance to find out how to help her keep her soul." I sighed again, and caressed the ebony hair of Ivy. At least she had some color now.

The master vampire took a deep breath and distracted me from contemplating my beloved vamp's weakened condition.

"Ivy didn't know you were doing something. I didn't know either, Rachel." He sounded irritated.

"I didn't want to give her false hope, Rynn, and she is always I had said her anything, then she would have tried to stop me for places I have to go are too dangerous, and the things I have to do to get the information I need are almost all life threatening. I know her, and she'd simply stop me from doing anything that could hurt me in any way even if I was doing it to help her. I work alone, it's one of my many weaknesses but I cannot help myself. I don't trust in anyone for these kinds of things, no one but Ivy; she was out of the picture for this one. I was planning to fill her in when I found a way that could potentially work. See what happened? I wasn't sure if the spell was going to work, and it didn't. I kept it like an emergency kit when I found out there was a little war amongst the vamp camarillas, just to use it in case Ivy got hurt so badly like she did. So I failed, Rynn, for the zillionth time!" I ranted again

"But this is something I want, Rachel, and if you tell me, I can use my influences, and make things easier for you. What camarilla possesses the books you want research in?" Cormel asked with his smooth voice, in a very seductive vamp way.

"First, Rynn, I want Ivy and her babies to be safe. I know she'd never let anyone hurt an innocent life, much less two. I think I can help her with the food; there is a potion I used to take - my mother fashioned it for me, when I was younger and I could not eat anything when I was sick. Even if the potion doesn't work, my blood seems to feed Ivy just fine. So, I will help you, I won't rest until I find a way to make the soul of a vampire remain attached to his or her undead body. But Ivy is more important to me right now - her health, and her babies' as well. You're her master. I know that if you say the word, the others will obey you. Give me a chance to save her and her children," I asked passionately "And I will work for you to get the answers you want the most. I will treat with you directly. I don't want Ivy to worry over this."

The vamps looked at me as if I had two heads or something. Well, no vamp inside their system would dare to stand openly against a Master Vamp, contradicting his decisions or setting conditions on his desires. But this one was way much less scary than Piscary was, and I had nailed Piscary for the witches' killings, hadn't I? Rynn Cormel locked his eyes on me, for a little while. Unreadable. I held his glance, motionless, without any reaction. For some reason, I wasn't scared of the vamps, not anymore. So my pulse didn't rise a bit, and my skin didn't blush, and my breathing was as steady as the rest of me. I even felt a little numb; I just had so much grief in my heart. Ivy was pregnant; maybe she got married in those months I lost.

So I managed to lose the love of my life without even having her for myself in the first place. Wasn't the life funny? When I got my big realization, I somehow put myself into a coma and she moved on. Well, that was the story of my exciting crappy life, wasn't? But regardless my own and much deserved pain, I would always love Ivy, no matter what. I wasn't willingly leaving her alone in such a predicament if I had the tiniest chance of saving her and her unborn babies, even if that meant I had to give her away to a freaking husband I didn't know, one I didn't ever want to know. It was better that way, or I might kill him twice out of pure jealousy.

Rynn really surprised me when after a good while of consideration he laughed in amusement. "I guess if I say no you will do a foolish thing like to try to get Ivy and run away with her." Rynn said it like a joke, but I saw his sarcasm right away; Ivy surely talked with him a lot about me.

"You know me very well, Rynn." I smiled blatantly, shameless_. I am a hasty 'go with your gut' kind of idiot most of the time, and anyone that can met me for a day would guess that plan B is my favorite: Grab the fish and run, grab Ivy and run. Plan B is always fun and worth a try!_ "I don't care if you kill me in the process, or any of them, but I will fight you, all of you with all my power. You know I won't go alone, and you will be my primary target. If I kill you, your precious camarilla gets scattered and erased, without you they are lost." I shrugged my shoulders like I didn't care, and I didn't.

"You have steel nerve. I give you that, little witch." Ms. Tamwood spoke with some kind of amusement in her voice. "I know now how you bewitched my daughter. She always has had this little rebel vein in her, and you certainly have the spirit to fuel that in her."

"Ah, Ms. Tamwood you're Ivy's mother and I don't mean any disrespect, but only Ivy can call me little witch. I already told you, you don't know me or know what I'm capable of. I strongly recommend you not mock me, or take me as some kind of joke. I might have been a joke a while ago, but many things have happened, and I've learned so many neat tricks since I knocked Piscary out. I realize now that I should have staked him when I made my own chance to do it. But then I was too self-righteous and naïve enough to think the right thing to do it was bringing him in to justice. Then I wasn't prepared to kill. Now, now I won't give a second thought to killing anyone that threatens Ivy in any way. The fact that you're undead doesn't make you invincible. I had demons after me, _demons,_ and demons are way more dangerous than vamps, undead or not. They are much more threatening and entertaining than any vamp can be." I said flatly, my emotions numbed. I sounded bored. She looked at me once, twice, head to toe with her calculating black eyes and I didn't move a muscle, indifferent to her and to anybody else. I had sat down besides Ivy. And she would be safe as long Rynn said the word.

"Well, that's fine; Ivy can have you if she wants, as long as she carries the babies to term. She's only halfway through; there are still almost 7 months to come. If she produces heirs to our line, she can have her way and have you as she wants, her shadow, or her scion, I don't care." She decided. "So, if you can save the babies, I won't lay a finger on you." She said with grace, dismissively.

The little mockery in her voice, and the little disdain were still there, but I didn't care because she gave me another piece of information I hadn't before. "Ivy is not married?" I asked surprised.

"No." she shrugged her shoulders.

"And who's the father?" _Yes, I have to ask; if the freaking bastard isn't in the picture I might kill him twice after all._ My heart skipped a beat, I felt such relief. _I could be with Ivy if she still wants me!_

"We don't know yet, Rachel. Ivy said she wasn't pregnant before the attack to the house, and then, a little after she woke up from her coma, the symptoms of the pregnancy appeared. We think that someone took advantage of her while she was out. Mom stayed with her every night, and dad and me in the afternoons, but she was alone for few hours every morning." Erica explained to me getting closer to Ivy by my side. She looked towards her sister and she took her hand tenderly. "No, she didn't throw up, and her heart is beating with more strength already, and her color is getting better." She formed a little hopeful smile, while my stomach clenched in outrage, as did my jaws and fists.

_Son of a bitch! If I find out who touched her, I'll kill him! I'll kill the bastard!_

It was so unfair; Ivy had been raped once again, or possibly more than once. They said she was in coma for 6 days. _God 6 days!_ While she was vulnerable, alone, and unaware. How could that have happened? Why did it always have to be this way for her? All my body stiffened and stood up with my fists so hardly closed that my nails broke the skin of my palms.

"You're not the only one who wants to kill that wretched bastard, Rachel." The voice of Mr. Randall came to me, and his hand touched my shoulder, getting me out of my outraged thoughts. "We will find out, and he is mine." He stated, very still, eerie. Well, Ivy was his daughter, and he had loved her long before I had. I stared at his black eyes; this was the first time I could see him out of control. I knew he was so much more dangerous than I could imagine right now. I nodded once. It was his fatherly right to avenge his little girl. "But I maybe require your help, we didn't find any odor - we suspected the son of a whore used an amulet or something, maybe you could find a lead."

"Mmh, that will depend, the magic is worn out and it has been a long time, maybe if I twist some charms" I said, but I focused again on Ivy. She was the most important thing right now "Ah, but first comes getting Ivy in a proper shape. Do you have a spell pot in the house?"

"I'm afraid not, Rachel. Are you sure you can save the babies?"

"Yes." I sounded determined and secure, confident. Yes, I was confident of that, why? I couldn't explain it at all. I only felt this right, and this strange confidence I hadn't before. Maybe love cleared my head. No, I was walking in fog, I wasn't sure of anything, my conscious being wasn't sure of anything, but my heart was clear. _I'll do fine, somehow, I will._

"Well, then make a list, I will send someone to grab all the things you need, Rachel, Ivy has been living in the church all this time. This afternoon she fainted while she was with you at the hospital, then Kimberly and Robert asked me to bringing her here to solve her health problem. All of your stuff is still in the church. Ivy didn't let anyone touch anything of yours. Call the pixie, tell him what you need, and he can tell my people to gather it for you." Rynn Cormel decided to join the conversation again. "You will have your chance to save Ivy's life, Rachel. You have saved her life more than once and I know you will do whatever is necessary to do it again. Now tell me whose camarilla possesses the books you want to investigate into." He ordered me this time, although he sounded polite.

"Francesca Borgia's. Be very careful, Rynn. Francesca is older than Piscary was; she has at least nine names, when he had only seven. And she uses demons as well as he did. If something you do bothers her in the slightest way, you will have demons after you, your Scion, and your most important lieutenants. Yours won't be the first camarilla she has erased totally from history if she takes offense." I warned him very clearly. I was slowly remembering very worrying things I had found out when I was researching. He looked very surprised at first, but then his face showed worry openly.

"You really choose dangerous places to make your investigations, Rachel." He stated in a very serious tone. "I know you have been investigating hard; I didn't know that Francesca was that old."

"Natalie is a kindergarten kid by her side, but Francesca is even more subtle in public. Rynn, privately, she loves blood orgies and she had drained to death more than three kids in only hours, even a dozen kids every 10 years in one single night, some ritualistic thing she is privately famous for; only the closest to her know about that. If Nathalie prefers girls, Francesca has no particular taste; girls and boys are no different for her. And she enjoys torturing witches so I need a little security before set a foot on her dominions." I informed him with an even voice, a professional voice that I had recently begun to work on.

"But you're going to do it anyway." He smiled at me, a smug grin that was very attractive on his features. He even seemed human that moment, and that reminded me of the potential danger he could represent in the - not so far from now - future. He was a young undead, but he was used to playing political games with every race, beginning with his own, and that was the very secret to Vampiric success.

"For Ivy, I'd go to hell, Rynn. You know that." I shrugged my shoulders. "Where's the phone?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I didn't like Pierce, so don't be surprised if I just mention him, or if I kill him. I have yet not decided that. I will add some characters of my own, and please, bear with me for a while. I swear I will explain everything eventually. This is my first attempt on writing a fic in English, (I'm Mexican, and I mostly read and write in Spanish). If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 1

Erica helped me to give a sponge bath to Ivy. The teen vamp wasn't as skilled as her big sister taking care of others. We put a black maternity gown on her that surely belonged to her mother once. Because it was a little short for my vamp, her long legs were slightly more slender than I could recall, certainly, Ivy had suffered the past six months. She was so heavily drugged that she didn't react in the slightest during the sponge bath or the changing of clothes.

I had spoken with Jenks through the phone, and finally emotion overflowed my eyes with tears when I heard his voice. It was filled with relief, but he didn't sound that well either. I trembled when I remembered myself that he was going to die very soon. Damn short pixie lifespan! And I lost entire six months of being with him before the unavoidable end! I'd never forgive myself for that. Jenks was my friend, more than a friend he was my family. I couldn't face his death now any better than before the freaking coma.

I took a shower in Ivy's bathroom. It was very much alike to the one she had in the church even the black bathtub, just a lot bigger. Erica said it was fine if I used Ivy's, and she left to wait for the things I'd asked from Jenks to make the potion for her sister.

The hot water helped me to relax my muscles and when I finished, I wipe the mirror over the sink up with a hand to see my face. I was very pale, that was the most normal effect when you have passed entire 6 months on a hospital bed underground. _Damn._ That was the only thing that made any sense. My legs were if not the same, a little more muscular. I gasped in surprise when I saw my stomach. I had never had a six pack; Ivy did, but not me. And there it was I had a six pack like if I had spend six months in a gym building a fitness body and not deeply sleeping in an unnatural coma. My arms were more than just invigorated; they were even a little muscular too. That was impossible. I should have awakened to be a jelly mass incapable of lifting a finger without help. But no, my body was in a shape it had never had before. _What in the Turn is happening to me?_

The soft knocking at the door pulled me out of my blue bewilderment.

"They brought you some clothes, Rachel. Ouch, you're a prude!" The voice of Erica made me shook my head, I certainly wasn't in the mood to be judged for a teen vamp. I only cracked the door a little to see her holding my white sport panties and a bra, a conservative one. I didn't have as much provocative lingerie as Ivy, in fact, I owned very few of those.

"Thanks." I extended a hand out to receive those pieces of cloth, and I put them on inside the bathroom before I opened the door again just a little.

"Come out, I won't bite you." Erica teased me in a good mood.

"Just pass me the jeans and a T shirt, please." I asked only one arm and my head out the door.

"You're shy!" She giggled and gave me the clothes. Finally I went out the bathroom, amongst a cloud of mist from the hot water. "And you smell good too, I give you that much. In fact, your blood smells different." She said with a curious glare in her eyes.

"I know. Ivy told me that the first time I bled in front of her. Witches' blood has different enzymes than humane blood, or vamp blood, Erica. That must be the reason." I sighed and I sent my gaze towards my vamp. Ivy wasn't going to wake up in an hour or two. I went to caress her hair. I still didn't know how she would react to my presence. I knew very well that Ivy hated when anybody could see her vulnerable or weak, and right now she was both. That thought really worried me.

"Your pixie came with your stuff, Rache. Do you want me to lead the way to the kitchen?" Erica offered to me, my dark mood was getting hers less jolly.

"Yes, please." I followed her uninterested on seeing around. In normal circumstances I would be admiring everything. I would love to look to the smallest detail the place where Ivy grew up. But for the time being, my head was to busy with more urgent issues.

The Kitchen was the same as I could remember with its very close looks to my own kitchen. My memory of the distant past wasn't affected. But I still had to remember the events much closer to the coma; those were coming in painful flashes now and then since I woke up.

"Tink's little red panties, Rachel! It's really you!" the voice of the four inches pixie brought tears to my eyes for the second time in the night.

"Jenks!" I saw him flying towards me, giving me his best Peter Pan pose whilst he was examining my face. "Oh, Jenks, I'm so sorry for everything!" I couldn't avoid a pitiful sob and I extended my hand for him to land. We stared at each other for a moment. I couldn't stop the tears running down my cheeks. He seemed tired and sad, very sad. "Mattie?" I asked hesitantly, my heart almost stopped when I saw the pain contracting his tiny handsome features, he went so still even his wings stopped to flutter. And I feared for the worst.

"There's not much time left for my Mattie, Rache. Every day is a struggle, she is very ill now, but she is a fighter." He trailed off. I just knew how he felt, watching at her slowly dying. Matalina was his wife, the only love of his life. But maybe it was so much worst for him: he was torturing himself every day thinking this could be the last one she was with him. Wishing not to see her last moment alive, but knowing he would do, the desperation and pain were so unbearable that he just froze. My throat got closed with the feelings of my partner, and my body froze as much as his. "Mattie was as worried as I was for you, she even seemed to recover a little and she sent me here to make sure you are doing Ok." He almost muttered before flying off of my hand. I just wished I could hug him, to comfort him in some way. My heart was breaking. And Matalina, how she could send him away because of me? Guilt hit me as a Mack truck. I didn't move in some moments, I felt too devastated. Matalina must wanted her husband to have a little break, surely she didn't want to see him this bad, she knew he wouldn't survive much longer without her. Maybe that was the reason why she refused to die yet, to keep him alive as much as she could. _Why I'm alive?_ I asked myself and the back of my mind reprehended me instantly after._ Stop being an insensitive jerk, Rache, this is not about you._ I shook my head.

"You shouldn't have left her, Jenks, not now. She needs you. I will go to see her as soon as Ivy wakes up and I can convince her to use the potion." I finally could swallow the knot in my throat.

"What potion, Rachel? You ask for a cooking book, not a spell book." He sounded alarmed.

"One my mother used to cook for me, I saw her cooking it a lot of times, I know it by heart and it's not in any book, Jenks, she fashioned it for me, and Mom is a brilliant witch, she knows about cooking charms, spells and potions much more than many others whom do lectures at the University, you know?" I explained while I was reaching the bags at the table, I unpacked the stuff. I had to do something. I had to think hard because I didn't grasp much of all this mess yet. I was the one to blame for everything, so far I knew. And that sent me again into a depressive mood. I began to set the necessary items to prepare the potion.

"Ivy told me what you did, Rache. What in Tink's fairy-farts were you thinking about?" Jenks demanded while he was hovering over the table, watching at me. "Do you have the slightest idea of what you did to that poor girl? She's been crying over your sorry witchy ass for more than 6 months!" he accused at me, and I closed my eyes in pain. I had hurt Ivy beyond any reparation? That's what he meant? "And if that wasn't enough, an unknown son of a troll just knocked her up while she was in the coma you put her into." his voice went loud with anger "Disney's drama writers, Rache! That's just too much even for a tough broad like Ivy. Believe me, I'm finding out who was it and I'm going to murder him slowly! Even if it's the last thing I do in my life, I'm going to." He stopped at the floral arrangement at the table, out of breath for a second, that was the amount of rage he had inside of him.

Erica was there, she didn't say a thing, but she was listening very carefully. She took something out of a cookie recipient.

"Ah, daddy said that you should eat at least 2 cookies, Rachel, Ivy took a lot of blood from you, maybe that's why you seemed to be a little off." She said shyly, she knew her sister loved Jenks, but now she was learning the pixie loved her back the same.

Jenks focused on me, I shrugged my nose but I ate the cookies without a word. I haven't enough blood to feed a vampire, not to say three of them, and there were three. Ivy was expecting twins! I knew the sighs and purrs weren't coming from Ivy, but from the babies. I have never heard such a thing. _But what do I know about vamp's pregnancy?_ _For some reason the babies like me, both of them. They woke me up, no doubt of that. Why?_

"Well?" the pixie demanded. And that made me conscious I had lost myself in my thoughts again, this was not about me, it was about Ivy.

"I did that because I love her, Jenks. I just realized at the moment I couldn't live without her and she was losing her soul. I had to do something, I was desperate. And all I could find to try saving her soul was that…" I trailed off cutting some herbs. I bit my lower lip. _Why I'm alive, and she is not undead? What I did wrong this time? My memory is coming back slowly; I only have to think and focus to remember._ I decided, every moment a new little piece of the puzzle came to the front of my mind.

"She said you exchanged yourself for her… that you staked yourself, Rache." He stared at me, he wanted the truth. Surely he had given Ivy a rough time in more than one occasion in the course of the past six months. He always protected at me more than Ivy.

"I wasn't exchanging myself for her. But the stake was the best option, the knife… that hurt a lot, and I was afraid to get it out and then not having the courage for …" I trailed off again, the memory of the excruciating pain made my hand moved on its own to my chest again. Yes, I put a stake inside my own heart. That maybe seemed a bit nuts even for me. "But, the freaking thing didn't work, Jenks." I wiped out a tear from my cheek. "I need to focus right now; this will take an hour at least. Would you stay with Ivy meanwhile I finish it?" I asked him a little off. I couldn't do this now. _I have to think, and I don't want to do that either, it's my fault, all of this, all the pain, all the suffering I put Ivy through. All the worry of her and Jenks and Matalina, damn! I'm a monster, that's the very truth, I should be put down and all of them will be better off._

"Yes, I would. You're not out the hook, Rachel." He warned me before darting out the kitchen.

Erica went after him when she realized I wasn't kidding about the potion, and I wasn't talking at all, I wasn't even listening at her chit chat. Now I was doubled worried. I didn't had thought about the pain I put Ivy through, or that she was blaming herself for my decision during 6 months, no wonder she was that sick! It was my entire fault as always was. _Double damn! If she ever forgives me I swear I will never hurt her like that again!_

I cooked the potion. I made not seven but fourteen doses; she might need two a day to recover from that state. I made chicken soup for her and I baked six strawberry cupcakes. Just to be prepared and to be calm enough to meet with my vamp. I loved her with all my heart, but she surely would be mad at me. And Ivy mad at me always made me tremble, if I wasn't mad at her too. And to be mad at her right now would be the most unfair thing I could ever do.

I went upstairs with a bed service. A plate of chicken soup, two pieces of warm toast bread, butter, the cupcakes, orange juice in a big glass, milk, and coffee. I overheard a discussion, but freaking vampire and pixie hearing prevented me to grasp anything, they heard me coming and they shut up before I reached the door. Erica opened it for me before I could knock.

"Hi, Rachel!" she said out loud, like if it was necessary, I stifled a huff to her coming in. I saw Ivy and noticed right away her shoulders were tense, and she had only a rim of brown in her eyes. She stared at me and I could see a lot of emotions on those tired but beautiful eyes, pain, love, anger, despair, disappointment, joy, all together struggling for dominance behind her iron restrain. Despite the paleness of her skin and the lilac color on her eyelids she just looked beautiful. The weight loss wasn't too obvious on her face, maybe because her hair had grown and at least now she had some color on the cheeks. Jenks was flying over the bed with a frown plastered on his tiny face.

"Ivy!" I managed to smile just a tiny smile. I reached one side of the bed and I put the bed service on top of her night table. "When I was little and I was dying one day and also the next, my mom made this one for me." I showed her the little vial between my thumb and my index finger. The liquid was greenish, dirty greenish." I know, it doesn't look so good, and it tastes even worst. But this was the only thing capable of setting my stomach enough to accept food in the darkest days of my illness. Mom might be a little out of her mind sometimes; but nevertheless she is an exceptional witch and potion designer. I know this is going to work by experience, would you give me a chance?" I offered the vial to her on the palm of my hand.

She was still staring at me with sadness and pain, unable to control her facial expression as good as she used to.

"V, Rynn said that if this doesn't work…" Erica's voice was quiet but tense and worried at the same time. Then Ivy took the vial and she drank it without the faintest gesture of loath. I gave her the glass with the orange juice, and she emptied it in barely two sips. Now she was avoiding looking at me, and her tension was even more noticeable. I put the little table on her lap and uncovered the contents. She looked at the plates with a painful tired frown.

"Please, Ivy…try… at least try." I begged to her softly, and she closed her eyes a moment, like if my words had hurt her. Finally after some moments she grabbed the spoon and took a taste of the soup. Just one and she waited, like if she was measuring the effects of the potion on her organism. After that pause she took another spoon of chicken soup, and the third one with a lesser amount of time to consider it was safe. She had brushed her hair, her color wasn't healthy yet, but she had some color and that was an improvement. She still wasn't looking at me; her eyes remained focused on the plate. That hurt. Ivy didn't even want to look at me, she was mad at me.

By the time she had eaten half of the plate. She stopped just a moment taking a deep breath, scenting me, and she shut her eyes. Like if she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Rachel, I want you to leave." Ivy said to me without even a glance at my direction. Her voice sounded strained, like if she was barely refraining from yelling or crying, I couldn't tell.

"Eh?" Did I hear well, what the hell she just said?

"The potion seems to work. Leave the potion and go home." Ivy ordered between clenched jaws.

I couldn't believe it! I stared at her with my jaw falling. And she didn't have turned to see me once. What in the Turn was wrong with her? I closed my jaws forcedly just not to shout at her, I took a sharp breath through my nose but I couldn't stop myself.

"What in the Turn is wrong with you? I won't go anywhere without talking to you first, Tamwood!" I stated a little too violently. My temper was rising against my will.

"Talk about what? Damn you, Rachel! Damn you to the Turn and back!" this time she locked her black eyes on me, pulling out an aura to scare me. But she remained incredibly still. "I don't want this! I never wanted it like this!" she yelled at me really angry and something else, something I couldn't precise. Her fists closed strongly fighting for control. For some reason her aura didn't overwhelm my senses. That was strange. Ivy's aura always had affected me in the past. For some reason it wasn't working now. But I had no time to think about that, I barely noticed it. My mind just couldn't make sense of her words.

Of course I didn't understand the claims she just did. I was a little slow in all the matters related to my intense and cryptic vamp.

"Wanted what? Double damn you! I don't understand a thing! All of this is not was supposed to happen!" I accused at her like if she knew already more than me, and I was still walking in fog. And I was letting my own anger unleashed against the wrong person. Ivy wasn't to blame of anything.

"You promised me to never give me your blood, Rachel! I was dying! I couldn't think much less to control myself. Are you happy now?" she demanded. Her aura still was on top of me, but I wasn't scared. And she wasn't making any sense to me. I stopped myself a second taking a deep breath to get a grip on my temper. Pain, she was covering pain with anger. That was somehow clear to me at the moment. That certainty broke my heart yet again. I had promised myself not to get mad at her at least for this time. I had to honor that promise. I look into her black eyes.

"Ivy, what are you talking about?" I asked calmly without hiding my confusion. I was still standing at the side of her bed. My hands moved with the palms up, and my eyebrows rose in a quizzical look.

"I bound you to me!" she claimed like a damnation sentence. And then I laughed, I couldn't help myself, and that got her stop cold turkey. Ivy was being ludicrous! But this explained much of her behavior. She somehow had thought I was attending at her because she had turned me into a slave. But that was simply ridiculous. I was doing this because I loved her. And I didn't feel any different about her. I didn't feel any compulsion for pleasing her.

"No, you didn't you stupid vamp!" I shook my head in amusement. "And for your information, I have lived with you for too long, that aura thing doesn't work anymore to shush me away!" I crossed my arms over my chest yet laughing softly. She took a sharp breath, now she had taken offense.

"Yes, I did!" She shouted at me. "So get the hell out of here and leave me alone!" this time Ivy demanded with anger to cover the deep pain she was feeling. She was breaking my heart all over again.

"No!" I took a step closer to her. Only to show her how wrong she was about her assumptions so far.

"What?" this was her turn to let the jaw falling a little. She was totally bewildered.

"I said no. I'm not leaving without you, Ivy." I smiled at her talking softly. "So, that's why you are being such a jerk?" I shook my head in a negative motion, sitting by her side "You didn't bind me, Ivy… I don't feel any compulsion to obey you, see?" I passed my arm behind her shoulders, in a loose hug, getting a leg on the bed besides her for comfort. Without noticing I had never did such a thing before. I always tried not to poke on her vamp instincts and touching her always seemed to trigger them, but I wasn't thinking. "Now, eat your soup before it gets cold." I cajoled her. She didn't move, and she wasn't the only one astonished by my answer. Erica had her mouth open, and Jenks landed on the top of the empty glass, staring at us in awe.

"Look, Tamwood, you need the food and equally important, they need it too!" I shamelessly blackmailed my sweet vamp resting my right hand tenderly on her covered belly. And then my brain did it again. I closed my eyes to focus in the little, adorable noises the twins were making now. Oh yes, this time the giggles were more delicate, but the greeting kicks were a bit stronger. And the sighs of content were more grave but not lesser sweet. Ivy moaned in disbelief. "Hello there, you!" I said quietly "Better now?" another kick and more giggles answered my greeting, the eating satisfaction noises this time were in the opposite site. I moved softly my hand to feel it more clearly. "And you, little one? Eating now, eh?"

I opened my eyes when I felt Ivy's hands over mine. She was awed. And she melted when I trapped her hand and placed it exactly where the next kick landed. "She says: Hi, mom!" I smiled to her talking with a joyful quiet tone. Ivy's eyes were all brown now.

"They…they have never moved before!" she muttered so low I barely heard. All her anger was gone, she stared at me.

"You must be kidding! They have danced all over the place since I arrived, Ivy."

I affirmed "This one is calmer now, I think she is eating. You must finish your food so she can have a complete meal too." I moved her hand over the other side of her own stretched abdomen." You know it is a bit strange, this one is fond to blood, and this one to food." I said "You should hear them too if you close your eyes." I said with a goofy grin.

"You? Can you hear them?" Ivy's eyes got all worried again.

"Yes. I think they woke me up; they were screaming in terror, they knew they were in danger, and they called me when you got knocked out." I explained the only thing I had cleared while I was in the kitchen on my own.

"They…called you?" Ivy asked in fear "Oh my God, Rachel! That. can. not. be!" she punctuated every last word.

"That's what happened, Ivy…I swear! I was bleeding from the IV I torn off of my hand, and a little blood just got into your mouth by accident, and then I heard a little whisper a pleading, hungry whisper and…" I shut my mouth up seeing the anguished astonishment on her face. _Holly crap on a toast! I'm too slow some times._

"And you cut your wrist and fed Ivy with your blood!" Erica completed my sentence as startled as we were.

"Tink's tities!" shouted Jenks bewildered.

"You are bound to the babies, not to Ivy!" Erica moaned in disbelief "That can not be!" at least she was getting the conclusion Ivy thought in the first place.

"But you said you haven't had sex with a man in months!" Jenks claimed looking into Ivy's astonished face.

"And I didn't!" she sounded outraged.

I gasped, my face reddened like a fire "Oh, my God! What have I done?"

Realization fell over me like a waterfall, a chilly waterfall. I remembered clearly some of the moments, the very last moments I lived before the coma. "Oh, Ivy! Please, please forgive me, I deserve you kill me as painfully as you can…Oh my God! I'm an idiot, I messed up everything!" I rambled ashamed, standing from her side. I rubbed my face with my hands. I walked through the room until I reached a wall, and then I came back, forth and back several times, in big steps, quick steps. My brain just went into a spiral of memories and understandings all the sudden. Finally, I took a deep breath and I faced them.

The three pairs of eyes were locked at me, waiting for some explanations.

"Eat your meal, Ivy, please, and I'll explain everything while you eat." I proposed.

"Good." She nodded after 5 seconds of staring at me quizzically. I sat down by her side again and moved the bread closer to her hand. "Start talking, please." She hurried me taking a toast.

"Ivy, you have no idea how difficult has been trying to find something capable of letting you keep your soul once you are undead. I didn't want you to know, but if I don't tell you, you won't understand all this mess." I began to talk, and I stood up from her side. I walked slowly the same path as before, trying to focus and staring at my feet to preserve my nerve. "I've consulted near every book that could be useful at the University's library; I have sneaked into more than one demon lair to check what they have. I even convinced Al to take me into a party in Ne..." I trailed off remembering Erica was present. "N's place in order to peep on her more treasured books… I won't tell you the mess I got myself into for that; and all I will say about my findings there is that is not strange at all N is completely nuts." I sighed. I still didn't have the courage to lift my eyes from floor level. "The demons only had device ways to capture and to torture souls, the things they do are terrifying, creepy and blood-chilling. Nothing that I could use, I don't want you to be tortured in your undead life, a tortured soul becomes really monstrous, Ivy, it would be worst than not having a soul at all. I have seen tortured souls, you can believe me." I shuddered and sent a gaze to her, she was eating. But her attention was all focused in what I was revealing, and her eyes continued changing; the brown going slimmer and back, as she restrained the emotions my words produced inside her. "However, one of her non-sense ramblings gave me an idea, so I started to look into what's left of the sacred places in the surface of ever-after. And I found almost by accident a tablet, made of clay, in a ruined little church, outside Cinci, in the country. It was lost in the woods. David talked about it, and I convinced Pierce to take me there." I sighed. Ivy had a frown she didn't like Pierce, but she was eating.

"A Tablet?" she asked as she finished the soup, she took a cupcake and took a good bite, to avoid making any comment. Erica took another cupcake and nibbled on the crust of it. Jenks flew to land on my shoulder; I took a wild strand of my hair and tucked it behind my ear nodding.

"Very old, at least 10 thousand years old, if the retired teacher I found to translate it was correct, it wasn't Latin, Ivy, It was carved with ancient runes, not Celtic, tough, he said it was Babylonian, like in Hammurabbi code. I had to make a new disguise to consult with him; this is a very old, very wise, much respected expert, retired teacher. He translated it for me; I had a hunch about the tablet. So, I had to be his cleaning lady/cat keeper/ delivery girl for an entire month while he was working on it. And he's almost as nuts as N!" I complained, _Sue me, I hated those days!_

"You never told me." Ivy said quietly, her eyes very intensely locked with mine.

"Tell you what, Ivy? That every effort I made ended in nothing suitable? Give you false hopes? What for? No, I wouldn't said this right now if it wasn't necessary, babe." I sighed, breaking the eye contact, but I was able to catch with the corner of my eye a little reaction in her when I called her babe. _Yes, I still have a chance with her, I still can affect her in other way that making her angry!_ My heart raised a bit its speed when I noticed. She straightened and drank the coffee before she grabbed another cupcake and have a bite, I smiled at her apologetic. She looked too pensive now. She was a planner, and she loved to know as many facts she could grasp before make a decision.

I was in trail here. And only she could give an amnesty to me. If I could demonstrate her I wasn't aiming for any of this in the first place. _Focus, Rache, focus!_ I ordered myself. "One very important and curious thing about the tablet is that only one copy of the translation survived the madness of the old man. The tablet was destroyed: his cat threw it down from his desk. And then the stupid cat managed to make the fish bowl fell over it, of course after that, the cat was catching the freaking fish from the mess and the tablet ended up as a little puddle of mud on the professor's home office. I barely saved the pages with the complete version of the tablet; he put his notes just over the stove, while he was doing tea for us. He was positively insane." I complained again. "Then I used those pages to make the potion, I did my best with the weird gibberish to invocate the spell, and Rexy came into the kitchen, somehow the darn cat grabbed the pages and set them on fire, and before I could do anything, David opened the door and a draft of air came in, scattering the ashes. Just like that, the last translation was lost. And now, I can't remember more than two of the ingredients of the potion, nothing about the invocation, and only the activation word is in my head, Ivy."

"Tink's little bag of dust! Rachel, the tablet was cursed!" Jenks said from my shoulder.

"Yes, I deduced that much, Jenks. It was designed to be used only once. It was cursed to be destroyed once it was invoked. Whoever did it, it was an extraordinaire witch, it is very complex and difficult to curse like that any object, and it lasted at least ten thousand years." I agreed he nodded emphatically; the thing was potentially dangerous, that much all of us knew by now.

"And this tablet…it was a curse?" Ivy asked when I stayed in silence too long.

"No, Ivy. It was a spell, combined with earth magic, meaning a potion and an infamous quantity of ley line energy; capable of toasting 3 or 4 witches put together. But it wasn't a black curse." I shrugged my shoulders getting close to the bed once more.

"Damn it, Rachel!" she swore and took my arm when I got close enough "Those dismays you had the month before the attack to my mother?" she demanded arching that eyebrow at me. She always guessed very closely to the truth when she had the info. I blushed. _Busted._

"Well, I had to practice to enhance my ability to spindle ley line energy." I excused myself.

"You could kill yourself doing that!" she accused angrily.

"Maybe, but I heard those days about the little war amongst vamps, Ivy. Not from you, of course. Why you didn't tell me you were in danger?" I freed my arm from her hand, claiming as accusing as she was. _Two can play the same game, honey!_ Also, it was a very good way to divert her focus in the wrong matter. The full lips in her face went to form a thin line when she felt busted too. _Do I can drive her mad or not? I'm a master of my own disaster; and she is not in shape for these shenanigans, Rachel, focus, focus! _"However, that doesn't matter anymore. Ivy, do you want to hear the rest or not?" She took a sharp breath and nodded once.

"The thing about this tablet, even it was cursed itself; it didn't contained a curse, it was not demon magic, but kind of wild magic, wilder and rawer than elven magic, Ivy. I know for a fact, they can't manage that quantity of energy, not even with a familiar; this wasn't magic for anyone, Ivy. I almost die only gathering the power to trigger it. And I know I'm not a weak witch. You are not eating, Ivy. " I observed. She muttered a swearing word and took another cupcake. "This spell was dangerous, Ivy, and I wasn't sure I was able to perform it, so, I kept it like an insurance only to use if it was necessary. This combination was too much as ley line magic, and it depended a lot on intention and meaning, will and facts to endorse that will, it was magic like none I've ever done, guys; this spell would perform by itself, once I had triggered it, I would not be in control anymore, it was so wild that might ended very unpredictably. I hoped not to have to use it. But alas I had to." My eyes locked in the brown ones of my vamp. "I knew it the moment you received that phone call, Ivy. That night you freaked out, you ran for your sword, I overheard you warning your father, and I had the darkest certainty that you were running into your own death, it was all over your face." Unwanted tears came to my eyes, this was going to be hard for all of us, I hated to hurt Ivy, but we had to come clean if we wanted a closure, and a new beginning. I surely wanted a new beginning. I could only hope that Ivy wanted too. Maybe this time I pushed her too far. I swallowed the tight knot formed in my throat only with the painful memories of that night. The night Ivy was supposed to die her first death, and I was supposed to die my only death.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, this is it, the little explanation of the situation presented so far. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 2

Tension was building quickly up in all of us. The night in question was too much for us all. I remembered it very well now. I was about to make dinner. It was planned to be a girl's night, only Ivy, me and two DVD movies. Ivy was a little worried about me because I didn't tell her the reason of my recent dismays. And the emotional distance between us was growing more and more. She was stressed all the time and her temper and mine burst at any little thing. I resented the fact she didn't mention the trouble going on amongst the vamp camarillas; but at the same time, I was too busy trying to fit myself in the required level to perform the only spell I was able to find that might gave Ivy her wish. And not telling her was a pain. But the cost still scared the life out of me so literally. I still didn't know if I was capable of giving everything. I knew she wouldn't approve the things I was doing, but she was my friend. _Turn it; if I risked my life for scumbags like Lee Saladan and Trent Kalamack, I was doing it for my best friend. _But the cost. The cost!

Now, here in her bedroom at her parents' house, I could see Ivy stiffening more and more. This made her suffer as much as I was suffering. She was sinking into the memories, re-living those terrible moments all over again.

Ivy answered her cell phone at the first ring. Her face went paler and her beautiful features contracted in anger and fear. She didn't say a word. Ivy just went out the kitchen at vamp speed. I followed her only to see her getting out of her room with her sword in one hand and the phone in the other against her ear whilst she was telling her father they were to be attacked and to take Erica out of the house. She was in her way. I called her name when she opened the front door. My beautiful vamp turned around to face me and I could see all the things she didn't say. It was a goodbye. The last one!

I was able to see in that look her pain, her longing, her sorrow, her unspoken and unrequired love for me. The next second I saw the resignation, the willing lost, and the resolution then she turned away without saying a single word. I ran after her, but I didn't even reach half the way to the sanctuary when I heard the engine of her Nightwing roaring as she revved it and left the entrance way of the church. She didn't take even her helmet. I knew I had lost her definitely, I knew she was going to die defending her family to the end with the only hope of saving at least her little sister. Damn master vamps and their quarrels!

"The moment you left I knew it, Ivy. I knew I would lose you if I did nothing. I knew you were running into your first death. And if I would see you again, that wouldn't be you anymore. You wouldn't have a soul anymore." I said very quietly because I almost couldn't find my own voice. Tears were falling from my eyes freely. I hadn't even the strength to sob. Ivy trembled and her tears left her long eyelashes to run through her suddenly pale cheeks. Jenks sighed in pain for both of us. "And that same moment I knew I would die before let that happen." I breathed the words barely with any sound. "I took my charms, my splat gun, that potion I made with the tablet's translation and I went after you."

"One word from you and I wouldn't have had the strength to left, Rachel. And I had to: Rica was in danger, Dad…" Ivy trailed off. She was whispering. I could tell she was sunk as deeper as me on the memories. "I believed you were tired of me and you said nothing." She muttered.

"You're a stupid, blind vamp." I wiped my tears with a tissue I grabbed from the package in the night table. And I gave one to her and another to Erica whom was sitting beside her sister in the bed, she was crying too.

"I…was grounded, I didn't open the door when Dad came to tell me and I pumped all the volume up in my ipod. By the time he wrecked the door to open it; it was too late… when I saw him with his sword I knew we were in trouble. When I yanked off the earplugs from my ears I heard the fight downstairs, then the window broke into pieces and two undead vamps came through it. Dad grabbed me and he ran carrying me then he jumped with me downstairs, Mom was fighting with two more vamps there and more were coming from other places in the house." The younger vamp told us with her eyes lost in the nothing, filled with her own guilt and sorrow. She had her own regrets, no doubt. Ivy holds her shoulders warmly, sisterly. She was the older sister, she was the responsible one, and she loved the little one beyond any sacrifice.

"Please, Rica, don't do this to yourself." Ivy asked softly, almost in motherly fashion.

"I have to, V. It was my entire fault. I was doing a tantrum, for God's sake! And that almost cost everything to all of you!" she sobbed against her sister's shoulder hiding the face from us. "I thought it was the end of us, they were too many. Dad is not that strong, not feeding mom as he does. Mom is very strong but they were 8. 5 of them were undead. She was cornered. Dad was in front of me and we were cornered too. Then you came in, V, you crashed through the windows of the hall still riding your bike. You beheaded one as you entered and you scattered them all with the bike. Then you smashed one undead against the wall with the Nightwing." She saw at Ivy's face without any attempt for not showing the admiration she was feeling for her. Ivy was awesome that was a fact, and seeing Ivy fight was always breathtaking for all her grace, and her skill, and her lethality. "And you finished him with your sword."

"But they were all well-trained killers. That wasn't enough, Rica." She pointed dryly.

"You saved Mom, V. And then you tried to save me. It was my fault. I thought I could take one but he grabbed me and you came to free me. But then another one stabbed you in the stomach. Dad put me behind him instead of helping you, and the one that let me go a second before, that bastard grabbed you from behind and he staked you in the chest, in your heart. All I could do was screaming, V." She sobbed again hiding her face against Ivy's shoulder in shame. "I'm so sorry, V!" Ivy tightened her hug on the teen. "I should attend better to my classes, I should be training every day like you did, I shouldn't interfered, I should obeyed Dad and stay back as he told me, and I didn't, V! I just got you staked in my place! And all I did was to scream!" she shivered, and a new burst of sobbing and tears came after her confession. Ivy comforted her as the big sister she was telling her it was over, that it was ok, and sending me resented looks. I resented that looks._ The kid has to grow up, and facing her mistakes was a part of general growing pains, all of us passed that. I'm doing a favor here for both of you, you overprotective, adorable vamp!_

"That's what I heard when I arrived, not only you screamed also did your mother. That was the end of her line." I said quietly but firmly. "And she went wild. I saw her when I jumped through the broken window. Your mom had two of them backpedaling. I used my splat gun. I think I would put one or two to sleep before emptying the case. Then I used ley line energy to hit another." I enumerated slowly, trying to recall the memories the best I could. That part was hard to grasp, it was almost a blur in my own mind because the vamps were too fast for me, specially the undead ones.

"In fact…" Erica spoke shyly facing us again, she wiped her face with the wrinkled tissue and I gave her another one. "…thanks, Dad told me you saved Mom, Rachel, you got not only 2 but 3 of them with the sleepy Charms: 2 undead and 1 living vamps. Mom was able to slaughter them and then to decapitate another one. And then you saved Dad and me. You hit those two when they were about to kill us both. But then you saw Ivy and from that moment on, you only had eyes for her. You came running I was frozen." She said ashamed. "I saw you when you took V in your arms, you were crying. V was dying and you were able to tell her what I wanted to tell her; you ask her not to die on you. You were so desperate then, you, you seemed to calm a bit. You took the knife in her abdomen and pull it out of her. You use it to cut your wrist and gave her your blood. You reached into your bag and pulled out of it two little bottles. You asked her to stay with you a little more, just a little more." She trailed off and began to sob again. Ivy hugged her once more locking her eyes at mine, this time her eyes weren't resentful, on the contrary. "I hope one day I can find someone capable to look at me the way you looked at V that day." The younger vamp whispered after a while, when she could gather herself.

"Yes, I did. That moment I realized I would do anything to save your soul, Ivy. And I had the means to do it. But there was too little time, your soul was about to go, you were leaving forever, and I couldn't stay sitting on my hands while you die. I needed time, time to prepare the spell and trigger it. Holding you wasn't enough to hold your soul, so, I decided to use my blood. I knew our auras always merged when you take my blood then I was using my own aura, and my own soul to anchor yours inside your body meanwhile I was able to do the spell." I explained to her. Ivy's eyes went wide open in surprise. "Yes, I promised you never give my blood to you again, but I was desperate, Ivy. I didn't want you to lose your soul and I didn't care if you bind me or if you take it all. My blood is yours anyway, I love you so much I couldn't bare the mere thought of losing you. I can't lose you, Ivy! And I just wanted to save your soul because I was incapable to save your life." I remembered that very clearly. Ivy's eyes shut in pain. She blushed heavily.

"I did it in purpose, Rache. I bound you to me out of selfishness, I knew I was dying and I wanted you so badly; I wanted at least possessing you one way for once before I die." She confessed aghast, ashamed hiding her face at her sister shoulder this time. "I thought I was better, I wanted to be better, but I'm not, I don't deserve you" she murmured guilty. My heart clenched. How Ivy could blame herself when it was me the one offering that blood. When I just told her I was hers even then?

I came and sit down the free side of the bed. I stroked her back and her hair with one hand slowly, and firmly. I was hoping to sooth her pain. I could feel her muscles so tense while she was crying silently.

"It's alright, Ivy." I cajoled softly wiping out my own tears. "That didn't work, at least not like you think it should, babe." I kissed her hair; she slowly turned to face me. "We were already bound, Ivy. Since the first time we did it. Remember Mackinaw?" I cupped her cheek with one hand.

"How can I forget? I almost killed you!" she didn't meet my eyes with hers, I just added new pain to the already hurtful situation. _Way to go, Rachel, could you be more of a jackass?_

"Your aura and mine…" I started to try to fix it.

"You knew, and you didn't stop me." She nodded still torturing herself. Why Ivy always thought of herself as a monster when she was being only human? Human nature always craves the forbidden, and my attitude those days turned me into a forbidden love on her eyes.

"Why I would do such a thing? You were taking a part of my soul but you were giving me a part of you in return, honey, I could feel it. It took me long time to understand it, Ivy. To really understand what was going on between you and me. Remember later, at home, when you thought you could control yourself?" I forced her to look at me, lifting her face from the chin with two fingers. She blushed again adorably, I smiled at her. "That day, our auras were 1, Ivy, I saw it happening. That day the real binding was made. And it wasn't you or me but both of us!" I stated convinced. Then I sighed ashamed of myself "But I was too blind to see it, I was afraid, that fucking memory of that bastard ruined it all. I'm sorry for that, Ivy, I should saw it then. Or later because the clues kept coming and I didn't saw them. Your aura protected me from the energy of the line when we find out about that murdering bastard." I forced myself to smile at her. "And then, you weren't taking blood from me, you were just touching me, which should opened my eyes. But I'm an idiot. That's the only explanation for not seeing what it was so obvious, you're my soul mate, Ivy Tamwood." I declared confident. And I locked my eyes with hers. "What can I say? I'm an obtuse, stupid, stubborn, blind and jackass witch…and you know it and still you love me that way." I saw her features contracting a bit part pain, part wonder.

"I thought you will leave the moment I said what I did out loud." She breathed while she was looking for any hint she was right on my face.

"I said I wouldn't, and I won't." I hugged her tightly. Erica gave us space. She hugged me back. "I love you, Ivy and I won't lose you. Not now that I have another chance. I don't know why I'm still alive and you are too, but this time I won't waste any time, I know exactly what I want and I'll do anything to get you." I muttered against her ear very low. "I love you, Ivy." I said sincerely, quietly she shivered still very tense.

"Then why you staked yourself the moment you knew I bound you to me?" she slowly push me apart from her, her voice was pained and broken. I shuddered. Ivy got it all wrong and she was blaming herself only for being human. _How I could hurt her so much and didn't notice! I'm a monster!_

"I didn't do it for that, Ivy. It was the cost of the magic." _Oh my God, Here I'm going again, hurting my beloved Ivy._ "Ivy, I tried to open the potion and then the bottle broke in my hand. I was so distracted gathering the energy I needed to put the spell at work, I didn't noticed when that idiot took the knife and attacked at me with it. He broke the first bottle with the knife and stabbed me in the stomach too in the same movement. I hit him with ley line energy. One bottle was wasted, luckily for us, I always made more than one when I'm not sure and with the curse on the spell that was almost a miracle, babe, it was like if the freaking thing knew only one would be used anyway. Then I only had one chance to give the other potion to you, the first one bathed me. Then for the first time I was able to make a circle without drawing it, I just put a shield around us, hoping I was still able to perform. That thing hurt like hell." I sighed. I wished I hadn't had to tell her; the next part was going to hurt her even more." I used on you two of the pain amulets I had in my bag, and the other one was barely enough to let me kindle the ley line energy I was gathering…" I took a pause to order in my head the following memories. I had to do it fast. Even dough this wasn't a band aid, and fast or slow, Ivy would ruminate it on for months to come, I knew her too well.

"You killed him, Rachel, with that hit of energy he flew directly to the furniture they had broken in the fight, He got stake in the heart with a table leg." Said Erica "You are awesome when you fight, you know? You were the death of half the attackers. You put down 3 undead and 1 living vamps and looked like you weren't even trying hard. Rynn was astonished when Dad told him, they said neither of them had an idea of how really dangerous you were." That was a compliment, but I didn't feel it like one.

"Oh, yes, Rache is a dangerous bitch." Jenks left out a little, bitter laughter.

"One of the most dangerous." Ivy agreed with a frown, she hated the interruption." But she has no idea, Rica. Let her think she is only the little witch next door she believes she is." My vamp said with a hint of sharp irony in her voice. The younger sister stared at the three of us with her brown eyes getting quizzical, and big, both eyebrows rising. _At least she can't do the one eyebrow arch either._ I huffed and took a deep breath.

"The pain made difficult for me to gather the ley line energy I needed and I rushed, if I didn't make it quick, you would be death, and that was it, Ivy. I was able to put the potion inside you through the wound in your abdomen, while you were drinking my blood afterwards I asked you to think hard, do you remember that?" I asked softly.

"Yes, you tell me to think in keeping my soul, to wish hard keeping my soul. I was so surprised, I didn't know you were looking for a way, but I had always have confidence you would find out a way." she managed to form a tiny smile.

"Ivy, the spell was an open wish. The last wish of a dying person guaranteed to become real no matter what wish that was." I revealed. She gasped in surprise. Her eyes showed skepticism, and then confusion. In a split second she blushed again. But I had to say the rest before losing my nerve. "I thought the wish would be granted to you the moment I paid the price. That's why you must be wishing to keep your soul very hard." I whispered pensive.

"But you staked yourself, Rachel!" She protested. She had made a big effort to collect herself and stop crying.

"That was the big difference between this magic and all the other magic I know, Ivy. The magic always have a cost. You have to pay the price. Even white earth witches pass down the cost, Ivy. We sacrifice plants. And plants are living beings as are humans, animals, and any other species. We all murder something to get what we want. Black witches sacrifice animals, humans and they cover their souls in smut. Demons always pass the cost to others; but this spell had a very specific cost. It provided a granted wish to a dying person in exchange for the life of the witch whom invoked it." I explained. Her brown eyes went bigger in very bad surprise. She panted like she was punched in the stomach and couldn't get any air. "And the conditions of payment were very specific too. I had to die by my own hand; it must be self-sacrifice: Voluntary, willing, in mind and body. I had to wish to die in order to grant your wish, I had to take my life by my own hand as part of the spell, I took the stake from your chest because I was afraid of taking out the knife of my belly and then not have the strength to do it, if I got weakened with the pain and the blood loss. I was afraid of chicken out, you know I'm a big baby when I'm in pain" I excused myself blushing. "With the stake I only had to point and let myself drop into the floor, my own weight would do the rest." I explained with a tiny voice and I sighed with a hiccup of crying. "I wanted so much to save your soul, Ivy. But I messed up. I allowed myself to be lost once I staked my heart." I sobbed and wish to go away but her hands grabbed me by the arms and her fingers closed so tightly they almost broke my skin with the short nails. She was trembling, and so was I.

I blinked several times because all I could see through my tears was a blur of Ivy's face. Her lips were trembling as well. Her eyes spilled as many tears as mine were but her eyes also were changing between black and brown until the brown, the woman won.

"You… killed yourself for me…" those barely were muttered words through her lips.

"I would die for you anywhere, anytime, Ivy. I love you!" I breathed truthfully looking into her eyes. "I would die to save even a part of you. I wanted to grant your wish, to let you have your soul. I thought it was done, Ivy. Once the magic ran wild, out of my control, I thought it was done…" I trailed off distracted for the light in her eyes, in her face. Of course, Ivy just had proof that I felt she was worthy to sacrifice for. One of her most basic desires I just had fulfilled it, to know someone cared enough for her; beyond words, beyond physical boundaries, I loved her so much I forfeit my life to give her something she coveted her entire life. My heart warmed with her light; and we bound in a deeper level as we stared at each other's eyes. Ivy's defenses were melting before my eyes, she pulled me against her and her arms closed around me possessively and with such strength I barely could breath in any air. I embraced her likewise but I wasn't by far that strong. I just snuggled my face into her neck, allowing the little breath I could take in with her scent, incense and wooden ashes filled my senses.

Ivy started to pump pheromones without control, she was so deeply moved, she maybe didn't know. But there were relaxing pheromones, happy pheromones.

"What for I want a soul if I lose you, Rachel? When you asked me to close my eyes and think only about keeping my soul; I was so happy because you wanted me, I would have a soul even when I would died my first death, and I would have you because I just have bound you to me. I didn't feel any pain no more, I was ecstatic and then I heard the thump you made when you fell beside me and I opened my eyes, only to see you staked, contorting in pain, and you told me you were sorry." Ivy trembled so hard she was shaking me with her. Her voice had died into a sob at the end.

"I was sorry, Ivy. I knew you would be so disappointed on me; I had to leave you to save your soul. And I couldn't explain it to you because there was no time. I just wanted you to know how much I loved you and how sorry I was because I had been so stupid and never even kiss you properly, not even once. Things could be so beautiful if I hadn't been a stubborn, narrow-minded, stupid ass, it took me to see you almost die twice to realize you were and you always would be the love of my life. And I ruined it all, as always. I ruined your wish…" I was rambling, trying to make my Ivy feel better. I was stroking her back intensely in a futile attempt to calm her. It took her several minutes to stop shaking. I didn't know what to say to comfort her and I was to ashamed to continue letting her know how I ruined her wish. I felt so useless!

"Dear heart, you gave me that last wish I made. When I saw you dying by my side, I thought it was because I made you my shadow. Then I only could think: that wasn't what I wanted. I just could dream of how I wanted the things were for us, I wanted a life with you as equals with a baby that looked like you, if we only could have babies…" Ivy's voice cracked a little. "And all I wanted then was to die twice and to be with you wherever you went; then I swallowed my tongue to choke and die and that way let my soul follow yours." Ivy whispered and I almost didn't hear that. But when her words made sense to me I panted fighting to free my self. She loosened her arms and I directly gazed into her black as sin eyes, filled with pain and sorrow.

"You did what?" I asked very slowly. Ivy seemed very confused "Oh my God!" I took her face in both my hands "Oh, my God!" _I started to sound like Erica. Focus, Rachel, focus; think, and let her hear it. This is important! _I smiled tentatively at my sweet, sweet vamp then I took some tissues from the box in the night table and I cleaned her face and mine softly. "Ivy, both of the potions were active. Yes, that must be it. When the son of a bat broke the bottle the knife went all wet with the potion before he stabbed me with it." I took both her hands in mine. Erica had retired the bed service when Ivy and I were hugging. Jenks was flying and he landed on the bed board. When he flew off my shoulder? I didn't know but I could see he was excited now.

"Tink's little bag of fake fairy dust" he flew to my shoulder again. "What do you mean, Rachel?"

"I thought I ruined the wish for Ivy, because I wished the same thing before I die, Jenks. See, when Robbie came the last time and I was at the airport waiting for him. I saw this lovely couple with three little toddlers. Three is a lot but one or two that would be perfect." I couldn't avoid a goofy grin.

"Rachel you don't make any sense, love." Erica said shyly.

"I know, I know. This witch was at the airport waiting with the babies and the other witch came in the same flight my brother did. Both of them were women and they were a nice couple with kids having a perfectly normal life. I had a fantasy right there." My eyes met with Ivy's and she shivered in pleasure and matched my shy smile with those perfect lips. "But I was a mess then. When I was dying, thinking that I have done my job by granting you to have your soul. I couldn't help but fantasized again with the life I would love to have with you, babe. Maybe I was delirious but I could see us living together properly, not as roomies, but as life partners with a baby, whom was a perfect combination of you and me. So sue me, my big bad vamp but you were the one who granted me my fantasy wish." I stated convinced.

"But, Rachel, I'm no witch." Ivy was getting too serious now.

"But you wished to die and you did take actions to die. You took your life just as I did. I activated the two potions when I said the activation word, Ivy. And when I was dying I could feel the line, it was burning me from inside out. When you started your own sacrifice the energy I gathered wasn't enough to grant both our wishes and I was still connected to the line. Then the magic was wild already and it used me as a conduit, to empower itself. If it didn't burn my brain it was for you, Ivy. You grabbed me I remember feeling your hands in my face and my shoulder; your aura was still connected with mine and it protected me. Maybe that's why I spent 6 months in that coma; the magic was repairing the damages my body suffered when I was too weak to resist it. That might be why my body feels more in shape than never before. I told you this spell depended too much in intentions, will and meaning. You don't have to be a witch to will, intend, and mean anything. You just had to will, and mean to do it. And you did, honey! I already have activated the magic and let it to run wild as it was intended in the first place. It was rare, complex, powerful magic, raw and elemental magic." I explained.

"It is very strange but very possible. There are very ancient tales about that raw magic, it is the magic that forged some species, like elves, pixies, fairies, gargoyles, and very few had grasped very little about it. If the spell was carved like you said, I think you are right, Rachel. We pixies are not witches, but we can perform some magic in different ways. We don't know how but we do, we are made of magic itself. And you both died for a little while. You paid the prices for your wishes. And the wishes seemed to be granted." Jenks said and hovered again towards the night table, pensive.

"But, how is that…" Ivy left my hands to place her own covering her belly in a tender caress.

"There was no rape, at least not intended, Ivy. I'm the retched bastard who knocked you up. There's no father, but mother. Me! I used the knife and the stake that were already inside your body to do the spell and the sacrifice. They were covered with your DNA and I covered them also with mine. That's the way the weres were created by demons, Ivy. Not exactly the same of course, but magic can kindle with the very fabric of life. My body was a wreckage and it couldn't be the recipient for the babies but yours heals in fast pace, so that's why you got pregnant with our babies!" I stated with excitement and joy caressing her face with one hand and stroking her belly with the other in a possessive gesture. "Oh my God! They know! They know I'm their mom too!" I panted. My heart going into a crazy beat out of delight. "That's why I'm connected with them!" the jolly kicks in our hands seemed to corroborate my guesses. We both were seeing at her belly and our hands found each other feeling the turmoil our babies had in her womb.

I couldn't stop a big smile when Ivy and I lifted our eyes from her belly and met in wonder and mutual understanding; she smiled at me like never before. I took a deep breath feeling nervous all of the sudden but I had to say it. "Ivy if you could forgive one more time, I swear, I will not disappoint you. Let me be there for you, let me be your partner in life, not only your friend. I want to be your friend, your partner, your lover; I want all of you to be mine, as I am yours. I can not live without you, I love you" _There, my declaration, with witnesses. _I let my thumb caress her cheek as I was speaking from the bottom of my heart. Ivy swallowed while she was looking into my eyes and her breathing was unsteady and her eyes were filled with emotion as if she couldn't believe her ears. Finally she smiled again and nodded lightly.

My heart pounded against my chest as we approached slowly and finally our lips brushed together in a kiss, a gentle, loving kiss. I fully appreciated the softness of that silky lips, I slid my hands along her body, one from her belly to her back to bring her closer to me. The other hand from her cheek to the back of her neck to prevent she could get away. My fingers feasted on the texture of her ebony hair as I let them run throughout it, fulfilling a very old desire born the very first night I moved in to our church, and I wasn't disappointed with the way it felt just better than I ever could imagine.

Ivy just wrapped her arms around me and kissed me back almost chastely. Of course, her little sister was there. I didn't want to let her go but I accepted when she pull out of our first kiss. We smiled at each other with tiny smiles, we both had blushed.

"Thank you, dear heart." She whispered.

"Thank you for give me the chance, Ivy." I just leaned into her and closed my arms a little tighter around her. My vamp laid her head on my shoulder and sighed in content. We just held each other for a while, calming ourselves, scenting ourselves.

"You smell so good when you cook, Rachel. I missed your smell so much!" she sighed.

"I'm sorry, babe. I'm not going anywhere dough" I felt guilty for giving her such a long, hard time.

"Rica said you made a deal with Rynn." Her voice was serious and her hands formed fists in my back.

"Oh! That's..."

"That's my business too, I love you, little witch! I'm not going to lose you in a wild chase of an impossible!" she pulled away enough to look me into the eyes talking gravely with that grey silk voice.

"I don't think it is an impossible, Ivy. I don't want to lose you either. I will find a way to let you have your soul; you will need your soul to love me and to love our babies. I will live at least one hundred and thirty years from now; you don't have that much, honey. And Damn myself to the Turn and back if I don't find something we could use!" I retorted passionately cupping her face with my hands, I kissed her again.

"You will not do anything life risking only for that!" she pulled out of my kiss again that wasn't any close to the reaction I was expecting.

"Babe, if you keep doing this, we will fight and I don't want to fight with you, not ever, not anymore. I can promise you I will keep telling you every tip, every idea, every lead I get, and I even open to let you help me plan out every move and to help me if you can to get the info if you want to do it; but I will do anything in my power to keep your soul with you as much as I can!" I warned her with clear calm voice; but I was determined, and she recognized it. Ivy sighed.

"Francesca Borgia, Rachel?" she asked almost in the edge of her patience.

"You have a big mouth, Erica." I sent the young teen a mean look.

"And you don't know the danger you're getting into, Rachel!" Ivy pointed almost dryly.

"Ivy, honey, I know exactly what she did to the last witch she tortured. That woman is almost as vicious as demons are. Her name is famous in the ever after. I know the mess this could turn into. And Rynn knows too. If you want to be informed, you have to promise me, you won't interfere. You can help but you can not object without a plan and a good reason. I don't want you to be stressed out because of this matter but I also know you. If you want an equal balance and an equal relationship with me I will not keep secrets, but you won't either. I'm up for anything you want to do; but this is a point I won't concede. For now Francesca Borgia is the only lead I have. And if Rynn plays it as nicely as he played his political career, this might be as smooth as a baby's cheek. You know he is good at PR." I reasoned calmly

"Rachel, if she knows about you; not even Rynn could stop her from taking you as a shadow."

"Oh, that. Well, that's a bit strange too, Ivy. I think by now I'm immune to vamp pheromones." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, a few hours ago your mom and Rynn and even your Dad were throwing pheromones all over this room and my scars didn't tingle, not a bit." I smirked towards her.

"That's because I bound you to me, Rachel. I know I did and your body can only respond to my pheromones now." Ivy said confident.

"But, Ivy, I didn't feel unease when you were taking my blood." I objected softly. I didn't want to offend her.

"That's because I was unconscious and heavily drugged, dear." My vamp formed a smug.

"When do we go home?" Jenks came between us. "If Al finds out you are awake, Rachel, he will come for you."

"You're right." I frowned "And if he finds out about the babies…" I trailed off getting upset and alarmed as Ivy did.

"Right now, let's go." Ivy decided in a heartbeat.

"But the war is not over. We have to make arrangements to take you there." Erica stood up alarmed. "And this is not going to please Mom, nor Dad, nor Rynn, V!" she warned her big sister concerned.

"Just send my things to the church, Erica. Jenks you get in the bag, Ivy put your coat on." I located it and handed it to her. I opened the bag of clothes and Jenks came to hide inside

"What are you planning, Rachel?" Ivy asked already on her feet adjusting the not so clean coat.

"We go there as I came here, by magic, Ivy." I smiled hanging the bag in my shoulder. "This will be a little rocky. Just close your eyes and hold on to me very tight, ok?" I reached her and passed an arm behind her back firmly holding her by the waist.

"Tell Dad they can check on us but we need to be in sanctified ground in the night time, Rica. There's no time for explanations now. See you, little one" Ivy held the hand of her sister and kissed her in the lips lightly. "I will be fine" she said and then she used the other arm to hold on to me too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Now here comes the tricky part: presenting the twist I lucubrated. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 3

The trip through the line was not good for Ivy's stomach. She was having nausea when we arrived to the church. Luckily she didn't throw dinner up. I gave her another vial of my mother's potion and put her in bed. Bis stayed with her while I went out to replenish our groceries' stock. After that I began to cook food, not spells. Ivy needed to gain some weight fast. But at the same time, she had to eat enough proteins, because she was pregnant. _I'm having babies, oh God, I'm having babies. And vampire babies are way much better than demon babies, the magic must knew, that's why I'm not pregnant. Ivy is._

"That smells very good." Her voice made me smile; I didn't hear when she came to the kitchen. That didn't bother me as it used to, I used to hate when she vamped out and moved as silently as a shadow. I turned to see her. She had a black silk robe very neatly tied. Her hair was longer than I remembered, I just admired her.

Her face was still pale, and the weight loss had highlighted her cheekbones. Her chin was the same. But the sleep deprivation made her eyes seemed sunken as the cheeks. However Ivy didn't look bad, I wished I could look as mysterious and ethereal on a bad day as she looked now. That was it: Ivy seemed ethereal, like a sexy ghost, if there was such a thing in the world. Not even almost 6 months of guilt and pregnancy could make her unattractive. I just contemplated her stance, her elegance, her intangible Ivyness; she had it all; she was a tragic beauty. And the heavy emotional burden that her eyes always tried to hide was still the same, maybe that was the thing about Ivy, her intense and continue struggle inside her between her humanity and her Vampiric instincts.

"What?" she asked a little awkwardly.

"You are so stunning, Ivy." I sighed still with the goofy grin in my face. "This is going to be ready in ten minutes. Do you want something to drink while it gets done?" I offered snapping out of my thoughts.

"A glass of orange juice, please." Ivy sat down in her chair. I served her request and put a cluster before the glass in front of her.

"Thanks." She had her laptop already going on. I leaned to kiss her hair, and she stiffened.

"What? Are you feeling dizzy or have any pain?" I kneeled beside her to get a closer look of her face.

"No, Rachel. It's nothing. I. Well, I am a little uncomfortable right now. You, well, I'm not used having you this close. And." _Something is going on, my Ivy doesn't ramble, no; she is not like you, Rache._

"Oh, missy. You better get used to and pronto. Because I'm not going to be far from you. Don't be afraid of losing control, honey. I'm certain and clear about us. I adore you. I'm not going to run away, if you want to touch me, then you do it. And if I want to kiss you, then…" I reached for her face. Ivy went back. She was avoiding my contact. _What in the Turn is possibly wrong with us now?_

"Rachel, I'm really very tired, I'm up because I'm hungry too, that potion made me hungry. I'm not in the mood for… anything physical right now." Ivy said tired.

"I understand, babe. I really do. You just let me take care of you. I know you've just passed a very hard, very long hard time, and it was my entire fault. If you are tired then you should eat and then go to bed and get some rest." I took one of her hands and kissed it on the knuckles. "Ah, and I'm going to need your cookies' recipe." I remembered while I went to the stove to unnecessarily check on the pan. I shut off the gas.

"No, I'm not going to bite you. Not again, not ever!" she closed her eyes. She was suffering all over again. Ivy had a frown but her mask of stoic nothingness came to cover up the uneasy mood she was having. _Maybe could be an effect of pregnancy hormones? I've never being close to anyone pregnant except for Ceri, and Ceri wasn't that much around._ I glanced at her my eyebrows rising in a quizzical look.

Definitely something wrong was happening. Ivy was shutting down to me; I walked slowly to the table and stood up in front of her whilst I stared at her looking for my answer on her unreadable mask.

"Ivy, my love, please, please, don't start with this." I pleaded softly. "If it is the physical part you…Oh, My God!" I almost let my jaw falling because I wasn't thinking when I started to talk, but seemed that my subconscious part nailed it before it could reach the front of my mind._ That's it! Ivy is feeling insecure because she is pregnant! She hasn't the figure she used to have. Stupid Vamp! _Yes, the little twitch in her face lasted less than a split second, but I could see it clearly. She was being so human! My heart clenched at her adorable light blush "Is it the physical part of us that is making you so uncomfortable, Ivy?" I dragged a chair to her side and sit down.

She sighed blushing violently this time. But my big bad vamp was strong and honest. Her brown eyes locked with mine and she nodded, in defeat. She let me move her chair and mine to be in front of each other, my knees touched hers. I found her hands and held them in mine, on my lap. I formed a smile, a shy smile. "You really shouldn't, dearest, don't be. You are perfect! And I am so far from perfection as a weed from a rose! It is me, who should've been feeling awkward. I'm an ordinary girl, I'm not beautiful, and I don't have even breasts. I have to shop my brassieres in the leprechauns' stores because I don't find anything suitable for a grown-up in the usual places!" I wasn't joking but she smiled moving her head side to side. "I don't know what a flesh goddess like you can find desirable on me, but I will not second guess you, Ivy. I just know I'm the lucky one in this match. I will get you and you are the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on. Not only physically, Ivy, you are the strongest, the best woman I will ever know. I love you, all of you, not only the vamp. I love the woman you are, your morals, your will, your feelings, you are so intense, so beautiful inside, that not even your body can compete." I kissed again the back of her hand. "Yes, I like your body a lot, but I'm in love with the person you are. I don't care if you put on weight three hundred pounds, or if you get skinny as a skeleton. Because physical is not the most important part, it is just a part. And it will be pleasurable, no matter what, because we love each other, babe. It is the love what counts." I was no planner, I just said what my mouth let out, without thinking, and the warmth, the light in her brown eyes, warmed my heart too. I kissed her hands, both of them this time. "And, Ivy; you are a vampire, and you have needs, as I have needs. Finding a blood balance is essential for us to work as a couple; so you will bite me, and you will feed on my blood. I'm giving this to you. And I will not ask you to separate anything, if the way you are comfortable is making love with me while you drink my blood, that's fine." I assured her without any sign of doubt. I was focused in her eyes and her face.

"You hate taking brimstone, Rachel." She reminded me pulling my hands on hers towards her mouth; she kissed my knuckles gently with butterfly kisses. I shivered. I was getting her to feel better with us being together. _Yeees!_

"I don't like it, I grant you that much. I might find a potion to replenish my blood and strength that is legal; but in the meantime, I will use the cookies. Besides, by now, it is not only about you and me, honey; it is about our babies too. You taking my blood every 4 days or so will be the fastest way for you to recover. They need you strong and healthy. And believe it or not, I don't think I can have a sexual response to your bites as long you're pregnant." I giggled a bit.

"I was unconscious, Rache." Ivy said with a smug. Her confidence was building quickly up. "Just because one time I wasn't even awake, doesn't mean I have lost my touch." She warned me. "So, don't treat me as a joke unless you are lying and the truth is that I disgust you so much like this that you are making excuses." Her eyes were going black and her grip in my hands, stronger. Definitely after 6 months of not having to control herself as much as she used to when I was awake made Ivy to lose such control easily. Ivy frowned just a bit and her eyes with just a bit rim of brown looked for mine demanding. Before the coma that would put me to tremble, ramble, cry and beg for her to let me go because I was afraid not from her, but my reactions to her. I had hurt her feelings with my big mouth, and she never asked me for explanations, Ivy just jumped into her own conclusions due to her own insecurities about me.

"Ivy Tamwood, do you really think that poorly about me? I thought you know me better after all this time living together. Of course I meant anything I just said. There is a reason. And I think that would be much better for you to experience it than me trying to explain why I think this way. One thing is for certain dough: It is nothing about you physically that can disgust me I just spent like 5 minutes admiring you and nearly drooling about your beauty and I probably would be actually drooling by now if you hadn't talked to me. Well, we can try. Just take a sip. And you will see what I'm talking about" I offered my wrist to her, the one without any marks.

"Rache, if I do that, I'm going to take you; I don't think I'm able to have any control right now." She warned me with a low growl. Her hands came to grab me by the shoulders, her eyes were still more black than brown, but I just formed a smug while an impulsive idea of my body surged through my nerves, one my mind didn't even processed. I moved fast.

"You will see, my beloved. Just a tiny bite and a little sip, there, this way you can see my face." I grabbed her by the waist and I brought her to my lap. Ivy gasped in surprise, as I sat her sideways on my lap while I was embracing her waist with my arm, and she passed an arm behind my neck automatically, for equilibrium.

"Rache! You're a bit stronger than I recalled." She smirked showing malevolence in her features. I stroked her belly tenderly and offered to her my wrist again. "You are playing with fire, little witch." A mean glare in her eyes matched the sly smile she gave me. _That's what I want; my big bad vamp all predatory again._ I looked at her sheepishly with every intention to tease her even more.

Ivy took my hand starting to pump pheromones, sexy pheromones at me. She scented the skin on my wrist, and she nibbled it, my breath came a bit faster, as my heartbeat, Ivy always knew how to arouse me. She never stopped studying me, with her piercing eyes every second blacker. The tingling in my scars began, but at the same time the joyful noise of one of our babies intruded into my brain. I closed my eyes and Ivy left the foreplay with an impatient growl, her icy fangs penetrated my flesh and I flinched, my body tensing in response to the pain, it hurt at the beginning. I took a little glance of her with only one eye. She returned my glance apologetic and she lapped a little in the wound, with a moan. "Your blood tastes even better than I could recall. Oh you're delicious, dear heart!" She waited until I relaxed and closed my eyes to pull my blood in, just a sip, she was very aware of the earlier occasion and she couldn't take too much blood without hurting me... Our auras began to mingle and the closeness, the warmth, the intoxicating sensations we both knew came to us again with a difference. I was focusing in the connection I shared with the twins, and she stopped pulling the second sip of blood all the sudden. "What's that?" she asked against my wrist, I was hearing the sighs, the little adorable purrs, and the giggles of our twins. When I opened my eyes I could see the all brown eyes of Ivy almost wide open in wonder then I smirked.

"That's our babies, honey! Could you hear them now?" I asked hopeful. And I identified the brightness in her eyes as joy, as I felt every time I heard the twins. The whining purr repeated and Ivy pulled in more blood, another little sip, because she understood exactly what the baby was pleading for. "Yes she is very fond to blood and she purrs just like you" I pointed out as I was stroking her belly with the hand from the arm I was embracing her. Ivy took another little sip, her eyes all wet, all pretenses for sex forgotten by now.

"One is laughing" she said still against my wrist. Jenks came inside in a hurry through the hole in the window.

"Yes, babe and she is kicking too, give me your hand." I asked. She retrieved her arm from my neck and passed it between us, she felt the kicks, and the babies' sounds doubled at that.

"But this one giggles just like you, my little witch" she muttered tenderly before another soft pull of her lips on my broken skin.

"Tink's little G string! Your auras are 1! Jenks shouted amazed "You are like soul mates!"

"Hi, Jenks. Be quiet a bit please, Ivy is hearing the babies" I smiled pacific at her. Ivy only took another sip; and she began to lick and lap the little wounds her fangs made in my skin. Looking at me so awed "See, Babe? I can't think of sex when they are playful and whispering that cute sounds" I said caressing her cheek with the hand she just released.

"Neither do I!" she nodded "But this is so strange, Rache" she laid her head on my shoulder hugging me again.

"I know but I believe this is good, Ivy. Because now for this I think you will be able to separate blood from sex. But not from love, because you love the babies and they love you. And I love you and our babies…" I trailed off seeing her lonely tear; I wiped it out with a kiss. My arms wrapped her gently, I kissed her jaw and her ear. One of my hands was stroking her thigh over the silk robe the other her side just below her breast. I wanted my Ivy to know for sure I was totally in for having a physical encounter as soon as possible with her. She was as desirable as always for me.

"And we all love you, my little witch!" she sighed "I'll make the cookies for you, dear heart." She decided after few moments of peaceful silence. "Can you hear them all the time?" she asked curious.

"No, I just can when you are eating, o taking my blood and I'm touching you at the time. And I could dare to say that I can hear them when they sense danger for you and them, like when they woke me up. I told you this little rascal is very fond to blood, you heard her; and when she eats, this other little one gets all playful and communicative… and the other way around, when you eat food this is all yummy sounds and her twin is all giggles and kicking, she sounds very much like your sister when she is playful." I explained caressing softly her belly to point which one in every occasion. "And that reminds me, you should eat." I brushed her lips with mine lightly and I used my arms to lift her and deposit her carefully on her chair "You're a feather even pregnant, honey." I smiled to her to go to the stove. She drank the orange juice.

"Jenks is it something wrong?" she saw the little pixie in the napkin holder.

"No, I just heard Rachel offering you blood and she already had gave you more than enough for what your sister said, I came just in case things get out of your fangs, Ivy."

He gave a smug at us, as I put two plates with the cooked meat in the table. And several pieces of toast. In the middle a plate with lettuce salad.

"I will bake bread, sorry for the hurry now, I used commercial." I blushed a little ashamed.

"Yummy, I love your cooking, dear." Ivy tasted the tender meat in the sauce.

"I accept requests, babe. I was thinking about pancakes in the morning with bacon, and eggs."

"It sounds heavenly, Rachel." Ivy nodded with a smile, she was hungry. She ate the two extra filets I cooked and several toasts with it, and almost all of the salad plate.

"What about some butterscotch pie? My mom gave me her recipe before she went to California." I said.

"I thought I was allergic to the butterscotch." Ivy laughed quietly

"That was Alexia not you, but if you want some kinky stuff in the bedroom, who am I to deny anything to your sex-drive, hot stuff?" I winked an eye at her and Jenks chuckled.

"Stop it, you are making me blush! You two better not get all pornographic in front of my kids. Or Bis! You could scar them for life!" he ranted with joyful energy.

"That reminds me, Jenks. The bedroom is off limits starting right now." My vamp warned him with serious softness.

"I will make that very clear to all my children, gals. I'm happy for you. This spell might have been a rocky start. But so far apparently has limed all the edges of your relationship. Even that one: you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from draining this foolish witch dry, Ivy; but with a loving restrain for not scarring your own kids, you couldn't lose control. That's a master touch from the wild magic." He hovered over the empty plate of salad. "Good night, ladies. I will be with Mattie. It is Bis turn of watching." He waved his arm goodbye.

"If she needs anything, Jenks please tell us." I said worried for him and the pain he was trying to hide right now. Ivy hugged my shoulders with one arm; we had dinner side to side.

"Thank you, girls, but there's nothing anyone can do. Mattie doesn't complain but I think we have only days with her. She barely can move." I almost couldn't hear him. My heart clenched in pain and Ivy got paler. She didn't know either the situation was so grave by now. Jenks went out before neither of us could react. I felt like an idiot, an insensitive idiot. We were teasing each other in the course of all dinner. We changed intentional load of meaning looks. And Jenks was about to lose his wife!

"I feel like an ass." Ivy mumbled with her eyes wet. She loved Jenks as much as I and the days to come were going to be really hard for him. My tears ran through my face before I could process anything. I was so happy just a moment before. _How can I be so egotistic and selfish? I knew things were painful for Jenks since before my coma. I'm such a jerk!_ I really wished to be able of doing anything to save Matalina and Jenks. But I wasn't more successful in that matter than in finding a way for granting Ivy to have a soul once undead. _I'm such a failure! How I can get out of trouble murderers and drug lords but I can't do a thing for the people I love the most?_

Ivy and I Just held each other for a while in silence. "Honey, I will clean the kitchen and then I will join you in the bed, you go to rest a bit." I asked aghast.

"I can help you, Love."

"Ivy, just this afternoon you fainted out of weakness for not eating. That is not going away with one dinner. Jenks is going to need us well. Please let me do this and go to rest. I will be there in no time, babe." I retorted earnestly.

"Fifteen minutes, Rache. If you're not in bed in fifteen I will come for you." Ivy decided.

"Give me half an hour, Ivy. I need to do the dishes and let things ready for the morning. I will not let you do a thing in here until you're better." I stated seriously. "Please humor me on this" I put a finger over her lips before she could say another word. She sighed, she was not satisfied but she nodded and went away.

"I will take a shower, Rachel. I don't need hot water, so you don't worry about that while do the dishes." She turned to say. I nodded.

I was putting away the clean dishes when the smell of burnt amber came to my nose. A shiver ran through my spine and I saw at the clock: almost 6 in the morning. The sun will be out very soon. I tapped the line in the back yard preparing for Al, it must be him. Ivy was still in the shower or getting into a sleep gown. She would be coming at the first sign of trouble. And she was in no condition to have a fight with anyone, much less a powerful demon. Fear for her almost froze me. _I have to put a circle around Al and me; let her out of this._ My fists clenched as forceful as my jaws. But then I relaxed to walk towards the table, I cleaned it with a kitchen cloth. _What in the Turn is taking him this much?_ When I turned to walk towards the sink I saw him with his usual disguise of an English gentleman from the past century. He was adjusting his sleeves as he enjoyed doing almost every time.

"Hello, my itchy witch!" he said with a malignant glance of his goat-like eyes over the tinted glasses.

"Al" I nodded once without stopping. I washed the kitchen cloth and then I faced him, strangely, I was feeling more confident. I should be trembling. I should be scared out of crap. But somehow I felt numbed, just as I felt numbed throughout the entire episode when I was treating earlier with 2 undead vampires._ Did I run out of any preservation sense?_ I asked myself seeing how Al took offense for being practically ignored by me.

"Well?" he asked with a frown changing his form into mine. He copied the hospital garment, the one I was wearing for 6 months.

"Well what?" I asked coming slowly closer to him. _Rhombus!_ I mentally ordered and the circle already drawn in my linoleum floor arose, enclosing both of us. Just in time. Jenks and Jhan came into the kitchen through the hole for them in the window. Bis came inside through Rex's door and Ivy showed herself in the archway still in a black bathrobe, her hair was totally wet and dripping water to the floor.

"Rachel!" she saw at me with pain and fear in her eyes. She couldn't help me. None of them could enter the circle, except for Bis.

"Stay out of this, Bis. Please, Ivy, go back to your room. And you two go with Mattie." My voice came out flat, almost bored, like tired of all the crap my life was sometimes. My arms crossed over my chest and my head bobbed a little sideway as I faced the demon again with a bored look.

"Tink's fairy farts, Rachel! What are you doing?" the pixie shouted at me alarmed.

"I am just setting straight an old arrangement, Jenks. Please go with Mattie, she's dying, she needs you." I said calmly.

"I don't understand, Rachel Mariana Morgan." Al still was preserving my form. "I wasn't sure it was you. I just sensed when the line was used. But then I didn't recognize you. I should but somehow you have changed during that coma. I went to see you a dozen times. I tried to awake you a dozen different times with powerful curses. I tried to take your soul 2 of them." He said with my voice while he was slowly walking around me. "Your soul wasn't there, my itchy witch. I couldn't reach it. Your mind wasn't in there either, even Newt tried once. She is very pissed off about all this matter. She even tried to kill me once for losing you. Now, I will take you to her and I make sure my life is safe. I don't think she accepts any less than possess you as she has wanted since she met you. It's nothing personal, my itchy witch. I really wanted to break you myself." He said slowly closing the distance we were apart with every circle he walked around me. I didn't even follow him with my eyes, but I could sense every one of his moves.

It was so rare. My heart was beating at a steady rhythm. But it was as if my second sight had been improved and magnified. Now I just could see the entire bodies and auras of everybody, until the slightest detail. Furthermore, every nerve on my body could sense him. Every move, every gesture of Al I could feel it almost like if I had him in front of my eyes. Even the ever after's landscape around us seemed more clearly dry and somber than I used to see it. An annoying itch in my back started the moment he touched my cheek. He used the back of a hand to stroke my cheek and then he took me by the neck forcefully. My face didn't react. I saw into his slit like goat eyes, my stomach clenched with revulsion; but I didn't move, my body was acting on its own.

"What, Rachel? No fight? No screams? No wiseass retorts? No begs? Tsnt, tsnt. I'm a bit disappointed on you, my itchy witch." He approached and kissed me on the lips. With my own form! _What a pervert! What else can you expect from a demon?_ I asked myself hearing very far away the claims and yells from my friends. But I still didn't move and he pinned me against the counter. I felt a little release in the itch from my back, when it got scrubbed against the edge rather roughly. "This is not funny, itchy witch!" he complained. And then I laughed, grabbing his wrists with my hands and taking ground firmly with my feet a little apart to hold him and maintain equilibrium at the same time.

"It's going to be, Al." I let out a furious charge of energy from the line through my right hand, right into his left arm calling it to come into my left hand all the way through him and myself. The howl of pain tearing the demon's throat apart was very enjoyable, as well the arch his spine formed trying to run away. But the circuit was closed. There was no possible getaway. Not for him, not for me. I was still connected to the line and the power was filling me as never before. I sensed when he tried to kick me and I kicked him first over the knees making him fall to the floor. His weight dragged me and I fell with him, on top of him. I was unwilling to let him go.

Then something strange happened again: my sight turned green and my back felt like if it was on fire. I straddled the demon with my form by the hips, without letting go of his wrists. I almost got repelled by the new arch the demon made with his entire body as I incremented the energy current through him. But my own knees hit him in the stomach as I fell over him again. That hurt him too. "Now, my little lemon demon, I know for a fact the whimper you are when you get a little roughed off." I stopped the current before he could dismay. He was panting. "I have still 20 minutes before dawn. Oh, Al. What I can do to you in 20 minutes?" I asked with a devilish smirk "Decisions, decisions. I can get your guts out and filled them with salt." I said with a very poisoned voice.

_Whoa! Where in the Turn came that from?_

"Two can play the same game, Rachel!" he changed his form to be the gentleman again and I rolled off of him before he could drain my power as he pretended.

_How do I know what he's planning?"_ I got into my feet and jumped away before a hit of ever after energy passed where I was it dissolved into my circle. A draft at my back made me move and I sent a kick up with all my strength. Al made himself solid just in the place and my boot hit him right in the crotch. He cried in outrage and I could see him protecting his package with the hands before went gassy again. Jenks chuckled swearing on Disney's balls.

I raised my arm and an energy ball of ley line energy stopped at my extended palm. I saw the jaw of Al fell in disbelief. The ball shrunk as I absorbed it inside my body through my palm.

"What did you to your eyes?" he asked unease for the first time. The annoying fire in my back was very uncomfortable. I panted. I was sweating like if I was in a freaking sauna room. The fire burnt sensation was propagating to my neck, my head and it was covering already most of my back.

"Don't you like it?" my voice came as a low growl, like from a Were with laryngitis. The draft at my back came another time and I moved; this time I sent an arm totally extended while I was turning, then when I was about to complete the turn on my feet, my knuckles hit his jaw and Al fell on a knee. He went into his gaseous state again. I rolled on the floor beside the counter and grabbed my dented spell pot. It crashed against Al's face when he become solid yet again and this time he fell flat on his ass to the floor. I used the pot as a shield to catch a nasty green potion he threw at me in the air. I threw it towards the place I felt the new draft on my right. Al howled again as the potion bathed his head and face. This was so strange, I wasn't even thinking, my body was reacting to the information it was receiving from my improved senses. And this time I didn't give him a chance. I put my hands both sides of his head, about 2 inches from his skin and I sent another current of raw energy directly through his brain. All his body tensed, his hair was in real green flames and the potion was creating more green flames as it was dripping on his back too. Al couldn't get away, and now, he couldn't move either because the current was shutting down his ability to control his body; same as an electrical shock. "You know, Al. I'm tired of being a toy puppet for demons." My voice remained the same growl but my words were very clear. "You haven't honored our arrangement. You must exchange the summon name with me and remove one of my marks, now. Or I will fry your brains." I lowered the current, not enough to let him move fast or with any liberty, but for talking to me.

"Ok, Ok, I will." He stuttered.

"Now, Al!" my growl came even lower and more menacing. "I'm not feeling anything, Al." I used a little more energy. He cried in pain.

"Stop it. I'm trying!" he was panting almost as badly as I was. And he was sweating almost as much as me. "Done!" he shouted again when I got tired to wait and leveled up the energy passing through him. A burst of heat and pain in my foot made me tapped the floor with my boot. Like if it wasn't already too much stand up to the burning sensation in my back, my head and my neck. The pain made me squint. And my panting got worse. "It looks like you're about to collapse, my itchy witch." He formed a painful smug.

I was still tapping the foot on the floor trying to find release from the sensation. Suddenly my foot got like glued to the floor. I couldn't move it anymore. It was like if a magnet was under the floor and the bones of my foot and leg were iron made, my entire leg got paralyzed. Then a violent flux of energy came through those bones and the flesh covering them. All my body arched as the unstoppable charge creep my leg up quickly; with an agonizing heat. I thought I would melt. I was expecting for the smell of burnt flesh, but it didn't come. Al moved with me, he was trapped by the current of energy I was using on him.

Even when I believed the burning sensation on my back, neck and scalp was at its top; the heat coming up my leg showed me how wrong I was. Al pushed me with both hands on my chest, but my leg was still attached to the floor; and he got repelled from me. It was him who fell on the floor flat on his ass for the second time in the night. He trembled, like if when he touched me he got struck by some of the energy I was receiving.

He didn't do it to me; this was passing on its own. This energy was not ley line. It was even rawer, I realized with fear in the conscious part of my brain.

"What have you done, Rachel Mariana Morgan?" he shouted alarmed his glasses had fallen off his face. Al was scared. Scared of what was happening to me. That much I understood clearly. He was paralyzed too. He didn't move a bit from the place he fell on. And he was panting almost as bad as me. I was sweating even worst than before. I felt like if I was in one of those sacrificial rituals from the Inquisition times, when witches were burned alive tied to the stakes. Only the fire was inside me looking for a way out of my body. I screamed in agony when the fire reached up my arms and then it stopped crashing against the demon mark on my wrist.

My body bent forward and then backwards, my head almost touched the floor in every occasion and the pain in my bones and muscles multiplied. My fist at first clenched by itself and after that my fingers twisted and curled on themselves very painfully. The fire was trying to reject my hand off of my body. It felt like it was about to happen and then a little sensation of relief came to my senses. It was like a leaking: the heat energy passed through the mark; and I heard the yelling of Al, like if someone was burning him as well as me. I saw him contorting his body on the floor. Just like I would if my leg wasn't all stiffened and magnetized on the floor keeping me standing.

Drop by drop the heated energy passed to my hand, reclaiming the totality of my body. My fingers extended again on their own. Then it was like a dam collapsing, the containment the demon mark had done finished at once.

Al howled like if someone was killing him. My wrist literally burst in flames, just in the mark AI gave me. The energy blaze came out my body and it extended in a split second to my entire forearm, and to my hand. I let out another agonic shriek. The pain was unbearable. The demon mark was charred from inside out. It was cast away from my body, against the will of the demon that possessed it. And at the same time the blazes of the energy claimed my entire body. A virtual chain was torn apart and now the blazes extended to my back, my neck, my scalp, and the burning started all over, more overwhelming and hotter than before. Now even my mind and my will were claimed by the strange energy. I almost couldn't breathe at all, my panting was shallow and the air didn't go into my lungs. My heart was about to explode.

This time my shriek had nothing of human, my throat exploded in flames inside as I tried to protest. I lost it, all of me. The infamous power was consuming all my being. My heart almost stopped the beating. And I was about to give myself in. Let it melt me completely. I was about to collapse, my heart refusing to beat; burnt, consumed. My body was failing down, I felt my knees so weakened that couldn't bare my weight. They began to give in slowly. But then I saw her. I heard her.

Ivy was on her knees. Her black eyes locked on me, in terror and pain. She knew I was dying "You promised!" she only whispered she was devastated, but the words hit me as a Mack truck. I have too much to live for. I just couldn't quit. Ivy was pregnant with my children! My heart jumped at that thought. Damn it, I hadn't yet slept even once with her! My body tensed and regained a standing position before my knees touched the floor. _I'm not going to roll over and die! I want to see my daughters born and grow up! I want to save Ivy's soul! I want to be with her the rest of my life! I'm going to live! For them!_ My will and temper arose, insufflating my heart with a frantic beat that engulfed the fire within my body. _I have to master the freaking fire; own it. _I just realized. _Not rejecting it, not bending at it, embracing it; possessing it! that's the way!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC; I will add some characters of my own. I'm a sucker for happy endings sometimes, although this is far from ending. I just like Jenks too much even when I'm incapable of writing him right. (Like if I write the others well!). An apology in advance for those who like Al, I'm going to do things to him that maybe you won't enjoy. If I suck, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 4

I stood up tall and braced myself in the middle of my body despite the aching all over it. I realized that none of my friends could see the flames covering many parts of my body because the blazes of energy didn't burn my clothes either. In addition, neither my skin presented any visible symptom of the fire-like energy, that was killing me. It was a magical energy that only I could see. It might be only visible to the second sight of witches. I focused on controlling my breathing. My panting slowed down becoming deep; the air actually coming inside my lungs helped me to think. _Maybe that magic, that elemental magic has been changing me, but now it is finishing the change. It wasn't a black curse. But who says it doesn't work the same way?_ I mused._ I accept it! I will take the consequences, I will pay the price!_

The moment I agreed to pay whatever price had this, the fire seemed to subside. My breathing was steadier now. I opened my eyes to see my blazing forearm went off. The blazes left a new mark on me. Not only in my wrist. It looked like a tattoo. Stylized flames in colors were covering the skin of my entire forearm up until my elbow and all the back of my hand even the fingers. _Elemental colors, it's like now I have imbedded on my skin all the elements._ I made a fist with the marked hand to test if I was able to control my fingers again. My emotions also felt rawer. Then I heard the gasping sound in front of me, my eyes focused on Al. I raised my fist in an instinctual reflex and repelled with the colored back of it a big ball of ever after energy that he threw at me. _Whoa! I didn't feel it. This thing is like a shield, or armor. Cool!_

"This can't be. How did you erase my mark?" he asked trembling, panting and sweating. He wasn't in control of himself.

My rage grew out of my control. Algalariept had messed my life up so badly, since the very moment he showed up the first time. He attacked at me with the intention of murdering me while giving me the fright of my life. He took the form of Ivy. He gave me the first bite scars and turned me into a vamp candy. He wanted to kill me since that day. But then he saw my potential to be first a familiar and later to be a demon baby making machine. He cornered me into dealing with him and more demons. The Ethical commission had shunned me because of that. All the things went to hell in my life because of him.

My body moved before I could process any course of action in my mind. My body acted on its own, like it had been doing since I attacked the demon. My marked arm launched and my hand took him by the neck. I actually lifted him in weight to my eye level only with that arm. I gasped when I realized what I was doing. _Why he is not fighting me?_ No, he was hanging like a rag doll, his slack limps slightly swinging. And he started to drool literally. He was drooling! The demon's face was empty of any emotion, Al was unconscious. It was like if he had fallen into a catatonic state.

It took me a little while to notice the chilly current running through my arm, inside my arm! _Crap on toast! I'm taking something from Al!_ Fear bathed my consciousness. It made me aware. I hadn't the slightest idea how I was doing it. But I was taking something from the demon. I didn't want anything from him. I wanted to toss him away, but my arm and my hand didn't obey that impulsive order from my conscious mind. I couldn't let him go. I started to shake. Due in part to the icy sensation going stronger as I was taking more and more from Al, the other part was fear just pure fear. My breathing turned into a shallow panting again. A knot was forming in my throat as I realized it was too much. My body just had passed through a very difficult transition that almost killed me. And now, I was filling it with a revolting mix of demon magic. I couldn't refuse it, I couldn't understand what I was doing and I only stifled it hoping the current of icy demon magic ended up soon or I would die for sure. I swallowed the knot when my hand left him on its own. I backpedaled to the counter island and I grabbed the edge with both hands only because I needed to feel grounded amongst this madness. The pain in all my body was becoming overwhelming all over again.

Al just fell to the floor without any attempt to stop the hard slamming he suffered against it.

I heard the mumbles from the demon when I leveled myself and I was sure I could stand steady without leaning on the counter.

"All my spells, all my charms, you have stolen them from me!" he accused pointing at me with a shaky arm; he was still lying on the floor. One blood chilling fact was clear for me at that point: Al was terrified. "You can't be a reaper. You are just a witch." He groaned in pain.

His words hit some obscure spot inside my mind. That word just sounded so righteous, so correct. _Reaper!_ I just have reaped almost all of his spells, curses and his charms off of him. _Reaper, I am a reaper._ "You stole all of my things" he accused at me again sitting and getting angry. That tickled my own anger again and a murderous wish possessed me in mind and body. _What a mug of a demon!_.

"Of course I did, they're not yours, you didn't pay for them; you passed the cost. You're not entitled to use them." My low growl was condemnatory. "You have messed up with the worlds' equilibrium too much, Algalariept, and now its time for you to be stopped for good." I sentenced.

I raised my marked arm and aimed at him, I wanted to hit him with a dose of my just acquired fire. He howled in fear, curling onto himself, trying to protect himself from me. _Futile attempt he is mine to kill! Whoa! What the hell came that from now?_ Then he cried and laughed at the same time and I knew the reason. The sun was coming out and the very nature of him and his magic was about to save him from me. I felt a murderous rage like never before "I know your stench, I will know where to look for you if I sniff it again, Algalariept and then I will finish this!" I shouted in rightful outrage with that bass growl magnified by the wrath I was feeling while Al vanished from my kitchen floor. The day took my prey away from me. _Ok, it went well, didn't it? _I asked myself._ Where in the hell that speech came from? Do I have a personality disorder? Perhaps comas get the people in strange states of mind. I'm losing it. No wonder Newt is so ready for the funny house; I almost have a foot there and only battered an unaware demon! _

I was panting and my body was shaking violently. The burning sensation grew again in my skin even more intense this time, the power inside me was overwhelming; it seemed like the icy waves inside me were tearing apart every organ in my body, my body was tearing apart from inside out. The waves wanted out, but they crashed on my burning skin, feeding the fire up, and then the waves went back inside demolishing my guts only to return even harder every time. Yes… the flame-like marks were a dike, a dam holding raging waves of demonic curses and all kind of earth spells and charms Al was carrying. They were both a shield and a kind of contention spell imbedded on my skin. Nevertheless, there was simply too much to bear. _Double damn, this is as better as it could get, I'm frying and I didn't even kill him._

Then I collapsed, I fell on the floor and curled on myself into a fetal position groaning in pain and panting. I rubbed my marked arm with the clean hand. The burning sensation worsened in my back, my scalp, my neck, my leg and my arm. I felt like if I was in one of those sacrificial sessions from Inquisition times all over again. Bis came to my side and put his nose against my head.

"You absorbed too much, Miss Morgan" he murmured concerned.

"I know. I feel about to burst, my body is tearing apart from the inside, Bis." An over inflated balloon was an understatement. _I am a freaking Zeppelin!_

"You have to let it out or you will die." The gargoyle said in worry.

"Please, Rachel, drop the circle." Ivy's voice was broken and I did it with a grunt, as the power had to equalize with me, adding a little more to my already throbbing pain. She was lifting my upper body kneeled by my side only a second later. "What have you done dear heart?" she asked barely containing tears.

"Getting rid of him, babe." I gasped. "Getting our babies safe from him" I barely breathed with my shallow pants I wasn't able to get inside my lungs the air I needed to live. There was no space inside me with all that overload of energy and all the curses I took from Al. "But I failed as usual" I coughed trying to breathe "The bastard had curses for two witches' lives on him."

"You have to release it, Miss Morgan, now, but it is too dangerous. You can kill us all if you do it." Bis said in fear. I felt the jump in Ivy's body.

"Please, dear heart. Don't die on me, please. Tell me what can I do?" Ivy's arms were holding me tightly. And I refused to give up. _I have too much to live for. I want see our daughters born and grow. I want to live with you, my big bad vamp. I want to be here to help Jenks when Mattie…that's it._ Realization came from the back of my head, a crazy idea that was an impossible, but my heart filled with hope the moment it hit my conscious mind.

"Bring me the tiniest spell pot, Ivy, and the portable furnace." I stuttered trying to stiffen my body.

"What?" she looked into my eyes.

"I can't do it myself I can barely breath, you have to do it for me."

"Are you insane, Rachel? Tink's tities! Your brain is already fried!" Jenks flew in front of me. "You can't cook a spell in this shape!"

"I have to. And I'm not doing it alone. There's not much time, please, babe, bring the spell pot, the furnace, spring water. You Jenks bring Matalina here." I asked.

"Mattie can't move anymore, Rachel!" he shouted in pain.

"Please, Jenks. Don't be a jackass now. Trust me… this time…I know what to do to save her life and I have all the energy… please!" I panted in pain but my voice went out like the low growl as before; only this time was not menacing but convincing and loving; my sight was still green, I held my self with my arms. "Jhan, go, tell all your brothers and sisters to bring a tiny part of a plant of the garden, one of every species, flowers' petals, leaves, tiny pieces of roots, you bring some dew, all you can carry only in your hands, no more than that, same for all your brothers and sisters, only what they can carry on their hands; things that Mattie had take care of, or things she had touched even once, or at least things she had taught to you, this is important, Jhan, you got it?"

"Yes, Miss Morgan" he said very impressed.

"Go, quickly, we don't have much time!" I hurried him "Ivy, babe, you too leave me here and bring the stuff." I barely could peak her cheek when I tried to kiss her. And she reluctantly left me sitting by myself still shaking due to the pain "Bis, you help Jenks, bringing Mattie here. Use my scarf to carry her. It is hanging in the chair of my desk."

"Yes, Miss Morgan." The little gargoyle ran very fast. Jenks stared at my eyes, I held his piercing glance. And he went out with Bis without a word.

Ivy used her vamp speed even the sun just had appeared in the horizon, she was frightened for me. But she didn't ask for explanations. She measured the spring water and got ready the little spell pot with the three drops of orange juice and the water and the three drops of my blood she got from my finger. It was boiling already when the little army of pixies entered the kitchen.

"Alright Kids. One at the time from the oldest to the youngest, you drop your ingredient in the pot in 1 pass over it." I instructed. "And wait for Ivy to stir each one before drop the next."

"Me too?" Jih hovered by my face. She was carrying a seed.

"You first, Jih." I nodded. "It's ok if you let pixie dust too, go." I hasted her. And every one of Jenks' kids went over the pot from a lot of different directions. Ivy stirred the pot after every one. Whilst I was muttering a very weird gibberish that not sounded that weird to me anymore. Even dough I didn't know where that's was coming from. Matalina was unconscious; she seemed pretty badly ill, lying on my red scarf. The little angel was agonizing. Jenks was by her side in pain. Jih took place in the other side of her mother. Bis curled himself around my boots, showing me his support. "Josephine, you're the last one, dear, what did you bring?" I saw the little pixie coming with a very tiny bucket.

"It's the first crop of my flower, Miss Morgan. Mom helped me to grow it"

"I see sweetheart. But only what you can hold in your hands, an entire bucket is too much."

"Ah, I'm sorry." She blushed.

"Don't be, you're a love. I'm sure Matalina would be happy of sharing with you the rest of the crop." One of her brothers came and she handed to him the bucket and took as much as she could with those teeny hands to drop it in the pot.

"Are you sure is enough, Miss Morgan?" she looked at me with that adorable minuscule face all worried.

"I'm pretty sure, little one." I growled with fondness, tenderly. Even dough I still was trembling and shaking. My will to resist almost over the edge. The pain was too much. "Well, just one stir counter clock, that's fine, Ivy. Put the pot outside the fire, here, where I can reach it, Please." I saw the point on the floor in front of me. She did it. "Now, place Mattie in the pot. Don't worry, Jenks, it's not that hot and you go with her, take care of her, and maintain her head above the potion surface. I know you hate getting your wings wet, but it is necessary, my friend." I told him barely holding myself. Ivy lifted Matalina very gently and Jenks saw her almost about to cry. He was very upset but he was a warrior. He clenched his fists and jaws before dived into the pot to receive her wife from the fingers of my vamp. Barely their heads where above the surface. "Don't get scared, Jenks, this is only for aiming." I extended my marked hand and I covered with it the most of the pot, my fingers apart "You just hold her and tell her how much you love her, Jenks. I'll do the rest I promise" I groaned in pain "Ivy?"

"Yes?" She came by my side concerned.

"Hold me, I can't do it alone I need you." I panted. She kneeled at my back and wrapped her arms around me, under my own arms to let me work. She gave support to my shaken body and stabilized it. "Don't let me go, please, Ivy!" I breathed almost without sound.

"Never!" she whispered against my ear before her cheek came to touch mine to see what I was doing.

Being held by my beloved soul mate meant much more than moral backup, her aura wrapped mine, as her arms were doing with my body; it was a relief in so much levels. Emotional, physical, and spiritual, as much as magically, because with her aura supporting mine, it was easier for me to handle the ley line energy I was bearing already. I started to focus all my will into make happen the idea I had to transform curses and spells into a whole new one filtering them trough my blood and flesh. The pain inside of me and the burning of my skin seemed to multiply, I felt I was melting and exploding at the same time. If Ivy weren't holding me I had collapsed before even the middle of the chanting I was growling and panting and muttering. Finally after the longest 2 minutes of my life I saw a light before my eyelids and I guided the energy from my body towards my arm and then to my extended hand over the pot. It was a struggle I barely won, until the waves finally obeyed my will and shifted to follow the path I signaled. At first very slowly as my blood and the strange words loaded with all my will began to filter, shifting and transforming an incredible quantity of the demon curses I stole into the new spell I deviced somehow over the stress and the pain.

The strange flame-like marks on my forearm and my hand glowed and the gibberish my mouth was letting out became a cascade of incomprehensible words. My body was all stiffen, the tension was already at my limit, my muscles screeched in pain and my bones seemed to want to get out of my body in some places. At the end I thought I would lose my hand, I thought it was disintegrating with the energy flowing out through it. Jenks and Matalina yelled the same time I did.

Then I collapsed into Ivy's lap slipping between her arms. I was totally turned into a jelly mass.

"Rachel!" she lifted my upper body again scared.

"I'm fine, just out of breath, hon… just let me take a minute to… catch my breath" I panted with a trembling smile. I just could take an actual breathe. Tears coming out of my eyes as relief and peace came to my mind and body. _Yes! I did it! Am I a terrific witch or am I a terrific witch?_ I saw around with my normal sight in place, I was so tired. I saw the expecting faces of everyone after I blinked several times to erase the blur of tears. Every body was gazing at the spell pot.

Over the pot a thick mist was hovering and the kitchen smelled strongly as a garden. Nobody moved. I only could hear the fluttering of lots of wings while the pixies remained hovering on a same place each and every one of them, expecting, and fearing for their parents' fate.

"Jenks are you alright?" Ivy's voice sounded tremulous.

"Tink's plastic surgeon!" his shout eased all of us.

"Mommy?" the tiny voice of Josephine was hopeful.

"I'm fine, sweetie." The mother answered and all her children sighed in release. "Ah, our clothes are gone." She sounded very embarrassed "Could anyone bring something to wear to your father and me?"

"Yes, mother!" Jih said from the shoulder of Ivy "Jhan, Josephine you go."

"Yes, sis!" the both of them darted through the hole in the window so fast; I missed it when I blinked.

"And all of you go to the garden; let's give them some privacy to dress." The older sister shushed the rest of the pixies away.

"Obey your sister, children!" ordered Matalina "We'll be right there in a minute."

The pixies all go outside except for Jih, whom took the clothes from her siblings and approached Ivy to put them in her hand. The mist was already vanishing. Ivy held the things in the border of the pot where both naked pixies could take it. I didn't peak, and neither anyone of us.

"How do you feel, guys?" asked Ivy cleaning my sweaty face with a sleeve of her bathrobe.

"Never better, Ivy. How's Rache?" Our partner and landlord asked worried.

"Just smashed, Jenks. But I'll survive." I said quietly holding the hand of Ivy in mine I kissed her palm. "Mattie?"

"I'm… speechless, Rachel." I saw her hovering in front of my face "What did you to us?"

"I only gave to each of you about 6 or 7 years, Matalina. Now you can take care of Josephine until she is a grown up." I bent my legs very slowly to seat down, Ivy helped me and she hugged me from my back again. Ivy was still worried. Matalina landed on one of my knees and Jenks on the other. The both of them were younger than before the spell. Neither of them looked any older than Jih. I smiled at her. Matalina was still a tiny beautiful angel. Now she was a healthy angel again.

"Your soul lost all the smut, Miss Morgan." Jih said looking at me attentively.

"That's true." Jenks nodded. "Your aura is all clean now." He blinked in surprise. "How do we pay for this then? Because neither Mattie nor me got any smut."

"That's my treat, Jenks. Or should I say Al's treat. I think he got the smut because there were his spells and curses after all" I shrugged my shoulders. "I just can breathe again." I sighed. All my body was hurting. But the pain was receding.

"But that didn't feel like a curse." Matalina said and took a glance of my marked hand. "Jenks look." She pointed.

"Tink's contract at Disney's" He flew towards the hand I was still holding Ivy's hand with. "What is that?"

"I don't know I just felt like I was on fire when the marks appeared not only that, my back, the back of my neck, my leg too." I frowned watching the stylized flames on bright colors. Ivy straightened me and pulled the collar of my shirt to see my back.

"My God! There are marks like that all over your back, Rachel!" she gasped alarmed. "Take off the shirt" She took the hem of it to lift it and help me. I groaned still in some pain as I moved to take it off. Matalina, Jih and Jenks flew behind me to see. "Both sides of your spine from the waist up, and it cover all your shoulders, dear." I felt her long pianist fingers touching me tentatively. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore. It started as an itch, when Al first touched me. Then when we were fighting, the burning sensation was more and more intense." I explained and a shiver ran for my entire body. "Who's the monster now, Ivy?" I asked her seriously. "I think I just demon out for the first time." I crossed my arms over my middle.

"Don't say that, Rachel. You're not a monster, nor a Demon. Demons don't risk their lives to help their friends." Ivy claimed convinced and her arms hugged me again.

"That's true, Miss Morgan." Bis leaned his head on my thigh "And you feel and smell like a witch much more than never before too. You took a lot of pain waiting for the preparations, anyone in your place would had yelled to little Josie. But you were nice and patient with her; even dough you were dying; and you couldn't waste any time; you spared moments that could mean your life only not to hurt a child" his big eyes smiled at me with fondness. "I'm proud to call me your friend."

"I'm proud too that we are friends, Bis. I think a more personal basis is in order, you can call me Rachel, like all my friends do."

"Thank you, Rachel." The gargoyle nodded "I have my doubts about you doing that last spell. If Miss Tamwood…" he trailed off.

"Yes, I know, we wouldn't be talking now if Ivy wouldn't have helped me. I couldn't do it by myself. Thank you, my love." I snuggled my nose against her neck.

"Anytime dear heart, I'm just glad you are still here." She sighed tightening her embrace on my body. "Really, Rache, what had happened to you? You were moving as fast as an undead vampire, even as fast as an old master Vamp." She said quietly, worried.

"That was awesome, Rache!" Jenks said nodding "The eyes and the voice! Jhan was blown away!"

"What about her eyes? they looked fine to me" Matalina said "But you seemed battered, Rachel"

"I'm, but it's nothing a good sleep doesn't cure, Mattie."

"You both are beaten up. We will talk later, after you get some sleep" Jenks smirked. "Thanks, Rache."

"My pleasure, Jenks; besides I got my own selfish agenda you know?... I'm going to need a lot of advices from experienced parents very soon." I said warmly.

"Anytime, Rachel." He nodded "You two go to bed now. And get some rest."

Ivy helped me to get on my feet. I drank three glasses of water. My clothes were actually dripping sweat. We headed for her room. I went to take a shower the door opened when I was scrubbing my legs.

"Are you Ok, Rachel?" Ivy asked almost shyly.

"I am, babe. Go to bed, I will be with you in a minute." I hurried. My body was sore all over the place; but I had been much worst. I used Ivy's pink towels and when I get out the bathroom, I was as naked as the day I was born. Ivy was using a gown; very conservative one. She used to wear very sexy nighties before the pregnancy. This one was made in silk, and at least had a very low cleavage, she had magnificent breasts. The night gown was blue, midnight blue. She watched all my body attentively and I could say she was concerned about my health. Ivy tapped with her hand the spot beside her. I smiled to go to her. Ivy lifted her luxurious black sateen sheets. I slipped inside the smooth fabric and reached her body. I sighed hugging her, taking her scent inside my lungs. The smell of her was so unique, so seductive, so warm and intoxicating. She was breathing my scent mixed heavily with hers, I was using her soap, her shampoo, her towels, and I was in her bed. I kissed her jaw slowly caressing her back with my hands slightly, but restless.

"Thank you, Ivy." I breathed against her ear; I was deeply moved. I had time to think a bit in the bathroom.

"What for my little witch?" she pulled away just enough to see at my face.

"For not going away running in the opposite direction of me, you are truly the bravest woman in the world. Anyone would run away from me, especially after that outburst. I'm very sorry you had to watch me like that." I locked my eyes with hers. All brown, all concerned.

"You scared me, Rachel. I will not lie to you. It was a very impressive change. Your eyes, your voice." She stated quietly "Your speed, all of your match with Al. He was scared of you as well."

"I noticed." I sat depressed. "I scared myself, Ivy."

"But you were in pain all the time, Rachel. It took an enormous resilience to endure that. You were sweating a lot, I think you lost pounds, the moment you began to move that fast, your body began to hurt, I can tell. And you didn't stop." She sat and passed an arm behind my back comforting me.

"I couldn't. I wanted but Ivy, this is the scary part. I don't know what is happening to me. My body acted on its own most of the time. I didn't think consciously in any of the moves I was making there, it was raw instinct. Instinct I didn't know I had. It's like if an unknown part of me is getting out to surface, like if I had two personalities or something like that. I just wanted to kill him. And the worst part is I somehow know that I can kill him. I almost lost my mind. I don't want to end as crazy as Newt. I don't want to lose you. And Al escaped, he is coming back, I know he will. You are in danger, our babies are in danger." I clenched my jaws, hot tears spilled from my eyelashes, I didn't want to cry either. Ivy cupped my cheek with one hand forcing me to look at her.

"I know since the beginning how dangerous could be falling in love with you, Rachel. A master vampire sent me to watch you, remember?" she blushed. "Piscary considered you as a danger. The very first day I met you I didn't thought you were dangerous at all. That is the gravest danger about you, dear. You can fool almost anyone. But that is always their falling. As the time went by, I knew you were evolving, turning into a very powerful witch. You have been always this powerful, you just didn't notice before. The very first day you cooked spells in the kitchen. Most witches can't do circles the size you are capable of, even without need. But you didn't know that. Rachel, you are a scary witch; if the others witches had known, you would be death by now. I think your father was trying to protect you by avoiding others to know what your real potential is. Even he protected you from Kalamack senior. You shouldn't join the IS, you got in the open. But thankfully, no one important could see you in action, thanks to Denon. I know the danger. But I love you. I can see you as you are, you silly witch." Ivy kissed my shoulder, and she used her thumb to caress my cheek. Her brown eyes smiled at me as much as her lips. "You have a golden soft heart; you are good, even with those eyes, and that voice. You were kind, and tender, and warmth. Not to Al, he deserved what you did with him, but you weren't any threatening to Jahn, or Josephine, or even me. You saw me and all I could see in your eyes was love, and concern and fear of scaring me. I will not let you go, never. We will find a way to keep safe our babies. And ourselves, and our friends, together." Her thumb was stroking my cheek, wiping the tears up. And I just kissed her again on the lips. Ivy let me push her onto the mattress.

"See? How could I have been so blind? You should have kicked my ass until I could see straight. You are the right one for me." I smiled to her. She laughed quietly her fingers playing with my hair. "I adore you, Ivy Tamwood. I will love you for all the eternity." I promised before kissing her deeply. She accepted my tongue inside her mouth, I explored her teeth. She moaned when the tip of my tongue ran all the length of one of her fangs. And she grabbed me from the sides of my ribcage to put me under her body with a single thrust invading my mouth passionately. My groan was part pain, part pleasure. I was battered. But I was with Ivy Tamwood sharing her bed. I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world, I was sure the pain would worth it.

"I haven't been with anyone in a lot of time, Rachel." She warned me in a growl when the air became a life necessity. I was panting, all dizzy, she kissed me again demanding and when I was reaching the hem of her gown, she went out of the bed before I could do anything.

"What is it, babe?" my eyes followed her to the bathroom. And then I went after her. She had morning sickness. I helped her and tuck her in the bed afterwards. She was pretty embarrassed. "It's ok, my love. It's normal. After a night like I put you through, don't worry, we have all the life before us." I cajoled spooning her from the back. "Get some sleep. Good night, honey." I kissed her shoulder "Good night, little ones." I stroked her belly and let my arms around her letting my head to sink on the soft pillow, scenting the ebony hair in front of me. She mumbled the night and took my hand with hers. I just fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, now it is time for new characters. Of course I will explain eventually some of the things I didn't in the previous chapter; it might not be in this one. Just be patient with me a little more. If I suck, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 5

First thing I got aware of was the marvelous scent I was wrapped on. _Ivy!_ I mentally sighed still in dreamland, second thing I noticed was the very light touch of fingers running so smoothly over my back. That made me focus without moving yet. Last night, no, this morning, I went asleep spooning Ivy's body with mine. Now I had a pillow under my arm and my body was facing down. I could feel the soft breathing of my beloved vamp on the skin of my back and a little weight on one of my shoulders, the delicious warmth on my left side must be from Ivy's body all contacting mine. She had leaned her head on one of my shoulders and she was drawing the patterns of my new flame-like marks all over my back with her long pianist fingers. I grunted and she stopped and pulled herself away from me. It was very dark in Ivy's bedroom. I couldn't see a thing when I opened my eyes.

"Don't stop" I yawned. And then I sighed whilst she repositioned her body where it was "I told you, babe, if you want to touch me you just do it!" I mumbled barely between another yawn. And I moved my arm over the pillow awkwardly to touch clumsily her hair before dropped it again on the pillow. I was still more asleep than awake. The sigh from Ivy over my shoulder made me shiver a bit.

"Are you sure, Rachel?" the doubt on her silk grey voice hurt me. But I was the only one to blame for that. I rejected her so many times, in so many ways; she might never have enough certainty about me. She probably thought I was here now only for the babies. The babies were a big reason but not the main one. She was. Ivy always had been it; she would always be my reason.

"Oh, I am awake now and I'm pretty sure, honey. This is not a game, I love you." I still could not see a thing in the dark. Ivy had the best curtains to avoid sun. Her room was darker than a Were mouth. "I know I had hurt you so much in the past because my stupidity. No more, my love. What you were doing, it felt so good; you should continuing doing it while I'm awake" I hoped she would follow my suggestion.

"I was just thinking, dear heart. This marks must be meaningful. Al really freaked out when they appeared on your arm." She passed an arm over my back to caress more firmly such forearm with her whole hand. Her grey silk voice was quiet and concerned.

"He called me Reaper… and I certainly reaped his spells, charms and curses off of him" I cleared my throat softly before say the next words: "It's nice, you know?"

"To reap a demon off of his magic?" she asked interested, her fingers reassumed the patterns on my marked skin.

"No, you silly vamp, you touching me!" I sighed contently. "You smell so good!"

"You also smell very good to me." I imagined the smile of her lips and I smiled too; thank God the lights were off, it was surely the most stupid grin I ever did. "I like your back, you know?" she kissed me in between the shoulders over my spine. Her fingers in both hands spread to explore the whole length of my skin from the shoulders to the small of my back just over the zone were the waist started. I moaned delighted. "Certainly, you are a bit more muscular than before, Rache." She appreciated in a whisper.

"I guess it's ok if you like it" I murmured my breathing was going unsteady.

"Oh I like it very much!" She purred with that sexy voice what always made me doubt of my knees. _Lucky me I'm already lying down! But she is not moving anymore. What do you expect, Ivy Tamwood? A written invitation? Maybe not written; just the right words, don't screw up this time, Rache. _

"Be my guest, babe" _Damn, my brain doesn't compute a thing before coffee! _

"Do you really want to have sex with me, Rachel?" Ivy sounded so serious, she had paused. _You are no sweet talker, you suck dishwater talking, Rache. Do what you do better; take action, NOW!_ Well, sometimes my brain liked to play dirty on me.

"No." My gargantuan mouth went off again without any thinking behind it. Ivy left me immediately. _Double damn_! I turned face up in a hurry, all my muscles protested but I ignored them "I want to make love with you, Ivy Tamwood" I smiled fondly. _Whoa, that was close!_ She froze and stared at me, I couldn't see her but I knew she was seeing at me. "C'mon, honey, come here, or hit the lights so I can grab you." I proposed sitting down, reaching with both arms, still ignoring the pain.

"No, not the first time." She slipped between my arms swiftly, the bed barely moved under us. Well, that way she had all the advantages, my vamp surely could see me, and my reactions, but I was unable of that. She was inches from me and my eyes only perceived darkness. _She has to be sure. And she doesn't feel too attractive now. I can live with this. _I decided in a heartbeat_._

"That's alright with me, honey. Come here, you on top." I hugged her shoulders, bringing her with me, to laid atop my body

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't want to squeeze you or crush our babies, you know the klutz I turn into sometimes; and I think I wouldn't be very able to hold myself together. So this way you're in control and no way can I hurt you… just" I trailed off suddenly nervous. My body was still sore from the ordeal of the night before.

"Rachel, you're rambling. And I'm not made of crystal; I'm just pregnant. You don't have to be scared of hurting me physically or the babies. You're nervous…" she observed hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm getting nervous; I'm inexperienced, so you just tell me what to do." I asked quietly, but anxious. "I'm a fast learner, I assure you" I smiled when my lips found her ear between her hairs.

"No doubt of it" she laughed softly because my hands were already holding and squeezing her buttocks.

I was still grinning like an idiot. God! The malicious commentaries at Piscary's vamp club were understatements. Ivy Tamwood really was a sex goddess! Even pregnant, weak and tired she just made me the way she wanted and I enjoyed every little murmur, touch and experienced kiss. Another slight upsetting due to the pregnancy finished our first time making love; but it was the best of my life. _So far_. A devilish smirk came to my lips when the back of my mind told me the obvious; now Ivy was pregnant. I could only hope I had the stamina and the resilience for our sex life when she had delivered our babies.

"You're thinking about me" her grey silk voice purred against my ear making me shiver. Her arms wrapped around my waist and her lips reached my jaw. I was cutting the cheese and the tomatoes for the omelets.

"Oh yeah!" I agreed without thinking. _Damn you, you sexy vamp, you have turned me into a bizarre version of Beavis. _She smiled so satisfied I couldn't avoid brush her lips with mine. "Did you take your potion?"

"Aha, did you eat your cookies?"

"Just one, I'll take another after breakfast."

"You're learning well, little witch!" she squeezed me from my back and placed a kiss on my neck; getting aside the unruly curls.

"My, my. You're a mind reader!" I groaned "I'm in trouble!" I giggled turning to kiss her fully on the lips. She laughed against my mouth.

"You are transparent, dear. And quite frankly I was thinking the same thing." She squeezed my ass a bit. "I always knew you were addictive." Her voice came out like a sexy growl.

"Let me get some practice and then we talk, babe." I nibbled her bottom lip lightly "For now, go to the table; breakfast is almost ready." I shushed her away playful.

Ivy ate a lot and then she seemed tired. I sent her to bed again. And I began to do the laundry; the church was very clean; so it was a fair guess that Ivy continued her OCD cleaning habits while I was out. I just did a little maintenance promising to myself not to let anything get dirty. I worked on some charms and potions cooking them. Ivy had to rest. That meant I had to take charge of the cleaning, the laundry and the cooking. The shopping, speaking of I asked Jenks to stay with Ivy while I went to buy a very good quantity of many things, I had seen the appetite for food Ivy showed me last night, so I needed to doubled at the very least the groceries' supply. And I better offered variety to her in the meals I should made an extra effort for her. My Ivy had expended half of a year battering herself because of me. I had to compensate her in even that small way. When I came back I started a very complete and large meal. I had a hunch. We might be having company; and by that I meant at least 2 undead vampires and two living ones. Erica said they won't be pleased. I had not much time.

Ivy came in a baggy sweater and leggings. Dressed like that she didn't look pregnant at all. I served her a glass of orange juice and I continued preparing the dinner I had planned out while I was shopping. Jenks came by the kitchen with Matalina.

"Hey, isn't that my shirt?" he asked when he saw me; I took one of his tall clothes when I passed by the mirror on the bathroom before going out, I had a tank top on me but the new markings in my shoulders and my arm were to notorious; so, I covered them with one of Jenks' shirts, I just let it open over the tank top. Now, I had the sleeves folded until up my elbows. Faded blue jeans and boots without heels completed my outfit it was comfortable, casual, to be in home.

"Yes, Jenks, I borrowed it. I don't want anyone to see the tattoos. In fact that's the only idea I have to explain them. I hope David and the ladies want to have the same figures at least in their arms and backs. I made a little complexion potion, very strong, it lasts a year. I will call them tonight. I tried to use some complexion amulet to hide this marks and it didn't work at all" I explained.

"So that's what you cooked after I went to bed." Ivy stared at me quizzical.

"Yes and I did a pair of protections for the doors and the windows too. And I have something in the planning for you and your family and mine. I asked Jenks and Mattie to harvest some herbs; I think I will also use what's left from Al inside me." I smirked while I was washing some of the dirty recipients I had used so far making dinner. I had to clean very soon the rest of them before the visits arrived.

Ivy was continuingly checking me out but I didn't allow myself to be distracted. We talked while I was cooking and she read her e-mails. We could continue in the night what was still in our minds. The doorbell rang.

"I've got it" Jenks darted through the kitchen I thought he seemed faster than before the rejuvenating spell. Matalina excuse herself to go and check on the kids. Not much time passed before my vamp's frown was evident. If I couldn't grasp a thing of the discussion Jenks was having in the door Ivy certainly could and she wasn't pleased. I saw her got in her feet and going towards there. I lowered the flame on the cream pot and put outside the fire the pan I was about to use to make a sauce. Ivy pissed off wasn't a good thing to happen for any unaware stupid cookie.

I knew the motive behind Ivy's frown when I heard clearly two words from a phrase I could not hear complete. "…black witch and I want to talk to her" I clenched my jaws. Well, I haven't been used to that yet. Even dough I had a lot of bad experiences in the days after the shunning and before the coma.

"Please, dear." I forced myself to talk and catch with Ivy's steps before she could grab the irritating woman. It had to be a human: no inderlander would talk in that tone to a real black witch. And almost everyone knew by now the soft spot I was on Ivy Tamwood's temper. Not much of them would risk pissing off a high-blood living vamp. Ivy still was the strongest living vampire in Cinci. And I was the only one capable to curb her anger, if she let me do it.

There were three women in the hall. I took a glance of the irritant blond as I took a hand of Ivy with one of mine. Jenks came to land in my shoulder.

"Rachel Morgan?" she asked. She had the bitchy type written all over her. She wore a casual but elegant evening dress, impeccable stiletto shoes, quality and tasteful jewelry. She must be closer to her forties than the thirties she tried successfully to give impression of being younger. However, I could smell the complexion amulets she had on her, funny now my nose was oversensitive to magic. She was very attractive if you like fake blonde women with exuberant bodies. Her tone filled with proud and not well hiding scorn reminded me of Ellasbeth, the ex-fiancée of Trent. She was a cold bitch without a heart. I ignored her to get a glance on the other two. The youngest was a Were she didn't hide her smell. She had a business suit on, in blue. She looked professional. I was taller than the three of them. The blonde with the stiletto shoes barely reached my height without me using heels. The Were was a fair brunette, her hair was braided simply, but nicely. She was barely in her late twenties like me. But the one who surprised me was the middle age woman on classic faded blue jeans, comfortable snickers and a blouse unbuttoned over a white shirt without cleavage. She was barely five foot six.

"Claire Britt." I said surprising both of my partners. I also felt startled for a second. Claire had a fainted scent of redwood on her. _She is a witch!_ I always thought she was human. But then I took a good look of her. She hadn't changed in years! She was already famous when I was a kid. Mom loved her recipes and she collected all the cooking books from Claire Britt. I have stolen from her my four favorites when I moved out of home. I still had them in the lower part of the counter. Everybody believed she was human! Maybe she wasn't a practitioner of the magic. The smell was so fainted, chances were she only worked on her complexion amulets and that was it. She wouldn't be the first non-practicing witch in the world.

"Do you know her?" Ivy stared at me a second.

"You must know her too, Ivy. I've been using her cooking books since I moved in with you. Have you never seen her picture on the books?"

"No." she arched her infamous eyebrow in dismissal, that wasn't important to her, so what? I laughed; I used an arm to capture one of hers. She still was angry.

"Nice to meet you, dear." the pleasant middle age woman addressed to me. Her hair was ash blonde with some grey on it. "Yes, I'm Claire Britt. This is my girlfriend: Miss Susannah Caruthers." She made a gesture towards the offensive blonde. "And this is Renata Reynolds, my partner in business." Her hand went to point the Were with elegance and smoothness.

"So you are Rachel Morgan, the black witch all Cincinnati talks about." The blond woman said with that irritating tone of superiority and inherent despise for anything and anyone that wouldn't please her. Ivy huffed and growled showing her canines. And that made the impertinent backpedaled with an obnoxious little scream "She is a Vampire!"

"Please Susannah!" the were sounded bothered. "What do you have in the head? because that was obvious! Vampiric Charms! A witch and a living vamp!" she said like if she was explaining something for the umpillionth time to an idiot. I liked the were girl. And it was a tangible dislike between the young were and the blonde; this one left aside the fear to face Miss Reynolds insulted, offended. The famous cook got between both with her hands up in a placating gesture.

"I'm afraid I'm not what you are looking for, Miss Britt." I decided to talk before Ivy could lose her temper. "I'm not a black witch despite some unfortunate events, so please go now." I asked seriously "Just let me give you a little piece of advice… I'm already offended by your friend. Don't go to a real black witch with that attitude, most of them will not be as nice as me." I warned.

"I'm very sorry, dear. I'm afraid Susie has not much experience treating with inderlanders." The famous cook said apologetic "And I don't need a black witch for nothing" she clarified.

"I hope so for your own sake. Good bye." I lifted my free hand towards the door.

"Look, dear… at least hear me out and then you could turn me down. How about that?" she proposed with a warm tone, almost maternal. She was absolutely charming like an old friend, like a missed relative, or something close to that. That was part of her success her ability to make people feel welcomed and close. Even dough I didn't like her girlfriend. I moved my head in a negative gesture.

"I'm cooking right now and my cream is about to ruin so…" I was kicking them out politely but the cook brightened at that.

"Then let me help you, dear, I always find easier to talk whilst I'm cooking or eating. That is a fact for most of the people." She was already walking towards the kitchen. Both Ivy and I stared at each other astonished by the familiarity of the cook. And the blonde protested following her. Renata saw at us with a sigh, a resigned one.

"Please don't take her the wrong way. Sometimes Claire is just Claire and forgets not all the people appreciate her forwardness." She said quietly. "And don't mind that greedy stupid bitch. I just hope for Claire to open the eyes and dump her before she makes me kill her." She whispered between clenched teeth.

"Don't worry I probably kill her if she insults Rachel again!" Ivy said in the same fashion showing her fangs.

"Please, honey. She doesn't worth it" I said and hurried us to the kitchen. Jenks had flown in the chase of the two invaders since they left.

The famous chef had her sleeves folded and was washing her hands by the time we got back to the kitchen. The blonde was looking at my books.

"What kind of witch doesn't have spell books?" she was complaining. "Obviously the papers are wrong, Claire. Let's go!"

"Please, Susie sweetheart, we are here already." She went to the stove. She took a good sniff and turned to see us. "I love women what knows how a real meal must be, dears. Roast beef, baked potatoes, asparagus cream, a batch of home made bread. And apple pie!" she signaled to the window, where I put three pies to cold. "Although I also smell butterscotch pie, you have been busy here, kiddo." She smiled fondly and uncovered my cream to stir it. "You have a very cozy little kitchen in here, dear."

_Little kitchen? That was a slap to my ego!_ I frowned. "Of course, it's a big kitchen for normal people. But I'm used to mine. I have a stadium size kitchen with 12 stoves, 12 ovens, 5 microwave ovens and a lot of professional paraphernalia, that's my living." She excused herself making me feel a bit better. "I like to work in several plates at the same time that keeps me in shape." She put a little cream in her finger with the spoon to taste it "Mhm, a little garlic and a hint of Cayenne pepper would make it perfect." She looked into the rack of condiments to use them.

Ivy was as speechless as I was. I got closer to the famous cook; she covered the pot again. And then she took the knife to slice the herbs I had ready for the sauce; she was a master with the knife. She chopped all in no time.

"Let me show you a special sauce I've been working at." She said getting the pan on the fire to begin. "Look, dear, I'm a damn good cook" she said proudly but her tone was warm, without any hint of superiority. I was feeling very impressed for her and the familiarity she seemed to give to everybody around her. The woman was a sun.

"I can see that." I nodded when she looked at me like waiting for an answer. She might be tired of her monologue. No, she was starting a dialogue, I reckoned.

"But I suck dishwater when we talk about money. I'm incapable to even balance a freaking check book." She continued her explanation I blinked surprised by the words. That could be me talking. That was the way I talk. Is she empathic or mind reader? "That's why my finances are in the hands of a good firm since the beginning of my career."

"Aha." At last Ivy showed some interest. She put the coffee machine to work. And prepared a line of Vampiric charms mugs to serve it when it was done.

"Suzie here, thinks that the firm is being…dishonest with me." Claire said with a little frown. "Renata is my partner and she has some suspicions about that too. She is very good at her job but she is not much better than me with the money."

"We have trusted the firm for almost 20 years. Not always but sometimes I have noticed certain hesitance and evasion when I make questions. Maybe is my imagination but it is my money too." The were said rather seriously.

"20 years?" Ivy asked "You don't have even 30." she pointed with a smirk, with the intention to bother the irritating blonde by showing her fangs a little. The woman took 3 more steps away from my lover.

"My mother was Claire's former partner. I took her place when she past away 5 years ago. Claire has been like another mother for me my entire life." Renata explained. The cook smiled at her fondly.

"I see I'm sorry for your lost." Ivy was showing her best education now.

"It's ok. I've been around Claire since before I was born. Mom was her friend for years. And she lost dad before I was born. So she moved in with Claire. Claire has been always there for me as much as mom was." She said. The face of the blonde woman didn't hide her dislike. Neither Renata hid her filial love to the cook. That's why she was here with them; she was taking care of her second mother from the claws of a gold digger. "Well. We would like an investigation on the firm; to confirm or deny our suspicions about the way they are handling our money."

"Tink's little bag of dust!" Jenks chuckled landing on Ivy's shoulder. My vamp was pouring the coffee in the mugs. "You don't need a witch either white or black. You need a hacker" he said.

"Break inn an office and steal files from their archives is an illegal activity. We are a very lawful firm. We don't do that kind of jobs, Miss Reynolds." I said seriously.

"We help the FBI when they want to treat with high profile inderlanders criminals. We are a very legal firm" Ivy nodded with energy "Do you like a cup of coffee?" Ivy offered coldly but politely.

"That is it then?" Claire looked towards me still making the sauce. I felt bad for her and I sighed. For some reason I didn't want to disappoint her, she had been a constant presence in my life at least her recipes and her books.

"I can offer a legal option, Miss Britt. Thank you, love." I received a mug from Ivy; she had a tray on her hands covering her pregnancy very well.

"I'm listening, dear. Thank you, sweetie." She took a mug. Renata asked for sugar and the blonde didn't dare to approach my ebony haired partner and that devilishly sexy smirk of hers with fangs defying Susannah to do it. Susannah was a control freak, she knew vampires could be dangerous but she wasn't scared of black witches. _Stupid human!_

"Well the only thing I believe can work in this case it would be a truth amulet. You bring the amulet to a meeting with the responsible people for your account in the firm. The amulet let you know every time they lie to you. It's legal, clean and it will give you basis for a legal complaint and for an investigation of the firm by the IRS. You asked them straight forward if they have cheated on you or stolen from you. And if the amulet indicates they lie, then you can do more specific questions, that would give you an idea of how they had managed to rob you." I said with the professional voice I was working on. "Of course; you have to record the meeting with cameras and microphones. That is legal too; many offices have security systems like those. And for securing the whole thing you bring a pair of witnesses, like a public notary and an accountant who can understand the scheme of them if there's any." I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of coffee.

"Seems like you already have a plan, Miss Morgan." Renata smiled at me with sympathy. And her blue eyes locked on my mark hand I was holding my mug with it, I didn't even notice. "So, it's true."

"What is true?" I stifled a huff and managed to look inconspicuous.

"Your tattoo, I'm a loner. I'm in no pack. But I have access to the catalog. I thought the name had to be a coincidence. But you have a tattoo. How can you be the alpha bitch of a were pack if you are a witch, Miss Morgan?" she asked curious.

"That's a long story." I sighed "But my alpha male is a public notary. If you are interested in the plan, I can ask him to be in your meeting, to notify and witness the interview. And Serena is an accountant, a very capable one; she can do a list of suitable questions to reveal any foul play if there is one going on in your firm. Serena is also a member of my pack." I offered.

"How could you win two challenges, Miss Morgan? I've seen those fights and I even had one, when someone tried to register me without my permission. That was not easy and I have marks to remind me why I don't want to be in a pack." She said looking at me with interest.

"That's an even longer story." Jenks laughed as he landed on my shoulder "So you do want to take this case, Rache?"

"Do you want to manage the electronic equipment, Jenks?"

"If you take it, sure thing, partner. You know I always have your back. And Jhan is learning very well, I want you to see how good he is getting at this. But I thought you didn't want runs in a while."

"Well." I sounded doubtful; I didn't want to leave Ivy alone at nights. And almost all runs had to be in night time.

"How much is going to cost me?" asked Claire Britt shutting off the gas. She left the pot and the pan covered with their respective lids. I saw right there the way of getting rid of them politely. I faked a consideration grimace like if I was calculating things mentally. Oh yes, money could be the perfect excuse for them to go away and leave us alone.

"Ten percent from the stolen money if there's any" I said. Ivy arched her eyebrow at me in a quizzical manner. But then she smiled and nodded like if it was a normal rate for any work.

"And if its not?" Claire locked her eyes with mine.

"Twenty thousand dollars." I shrugged my shoulders as if it was my regular fee. I saw a brightness in her green eyes. Olive green. She was taking me seriously. "I can have everything ready in 24 hours. Think about it and…" I trailed off when in the corner of my eye I noticed the outraged grimace on the face of the irritating blond woman.

"Certainly you charge like a Black Witch." Her poisoned commentary made me smirk in a revengeful mood.

"I'm on vacation, I have to change my entire schedule and gather the necessary people to do this, of course, and I have to pay them as well. If there is too much for you, you have the idea for free and the door is open for you to leave." I said looking at her directly. "Besides, how do you know so much about black witches, Miss Caruthers? Buying love potions or worst?" I asked in an innocent tone, she clenched her teeth. "You have wasted in complexion amulets more than the amount of money I asked for; I can smell them all over you." Her face turned red of shame and anger. "I know black witches; I've been hunting down them for years; that's my living. And I know the ways to defend myself from them. Hell, I'm a witch too." I stated proudly. "I don't know the kind of deals you had with witches in the past, Miss Caruthers. But you don't play with any witch not just black ones. Do you have the slightest idea of the things they could do to you without you even notice it?" I asked her seriously with a frown. I was offended. "If you appreciate your soul at all you don't go to black witches."

"You are shunned! You are one!" she shouted at me.

"That is it!" it was Renata whom spoke in a harsh tone, Ivy barely stopped herself when I held her from the shoulders in front of her with both hands, I didn't even knew how I left the mug on the counter, I was afraid Ivy could kill the stupid cookie. My vamp didn't use to talk without meaning her words. "You were the one who insisted in coming here." She almost spat the words. "You never go to anyone's house to insult them, Susannah! If she were a black witch, you were already regretting your attitude! Your fascination with black witches is a stupidity. Black witches are dangerous! They always made you pay much more than money. I had my doubts before I met her, but this witch is no black witch at all. All I can see here is a legal business with legal point of view; and solutions, creative and fast solutions. Now I'm certain we are in good hands. My mother passed a very hard time once upon a time all because a misinterpretation. But I see a pixie here. Pixies despise black arts; no pixie would be a friend or even partner with a black witch. And there was a very one sided story on all the papers comments. I know a conspiracy when I see one. I had to deal with many envious, toxic people whom have tried to damage Claire's image and reputation in so many ways. And that's the way they acted always." The young were was mad and the volume of her voice was going up as she ranted.

"Rena, honey. Calm down, please." Claire stepped towards her. The blond woman was also angrier at every statement of the brunette were. Renata took a deep breath to put a leash on her temper again. She allowed the cook to hug her by the waist.

"Claire you know I love you and respect you as if you were my own mother. But you better teach your lover about how to treat with inderlanders before she gets you into a big trouble and me with you. Make her understand that money doesn't buy instincts as old as our races. And human race is regrettably in the bottom of the food chain, no matter how much money they manage to get." The young Were asked in a respectful tone although she was clearly still angry with the insulting Blonde. "Miss Morgan I don't have to think anything. The job is yours. But I have to set some conditions." She freed from the loving arms of the cook to come in front of us. "We will give you that ten percent, if the amount they had robbed from us is up to 2 millions. But if the amount is larger we would only pay 3%." She said seriously.

"7." I retorted automatically. Without still thinking, I was worried about Ivy, my vamp was yet very angry. And I didn't want the job at all.

"5 percent, dear. It's the last offer. I appreciate people who know the worth of their jobs. And I'm very sorry for the way Susie had talked to you. And I appreciate the way even dough you were offended, you still avoided your girl gave mine a shake off. Renata will give you a check for the half of your minimum fee. 10 thousand. Tomorrow you can go to my house to prepare the equipment. And the day after the meeting will be set at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."

I looked at her; even I could hear the outraged hiss the blonde gave to her warning that the amount of money could reach hundreds of thousands. That was a lot of money. And if I wasn't to work, I will need it. There was still like 6 months of pregnancy for Ivy. And obviously she couldn't work either. Not like a runner. Then the cook talked to the blonde quietly. Susannah didn't like it. But she didn't say another word.

"It's settled then." I sighed almost tiredly. "We will need your address and phone number." I said more professional. Ivy went to her laptop to write the contract.

"And we will need a receipt." Renata said already filling a check.

"Of course, we are a legal firm; we pay taxes as all the people do." Ivy smiled at her.

All was settled in only 10 minutes. The strange trio left. And our trio returned to the kitchen. I went to the stove to check on the food and I started to wash all the used kitchen props. I busied myself getting things clean and putting them away. I wanted to have a presentable place. When I finally finished I found my beloved vamp staring at me with her cinnamon eyes brightened and filled with proud. I went to seat besides her.

"You managed it very impressively, Rache." She complimented me.

"I didn't want the job, babe. I was trying to make them go away. I thought they would leave before pay that much money. I didn't want to leave you alone in the nights. But the distraction is going to worth it." I smiled before hugging her. I brought her to my lap and kissed her cheek stroking her belly over the baggy sweater "After all, we have to build a nursery room."

"Well, if, and only if there's a two million dollars fraud going on; you will charge them with two hundred thousand. I think that would be more than enough, dear heart." Ivy passed an arm behind my back. She caressed my chin with the thumb of her free hand.

"We, not me, we are a team, Ivy. Who does your taxes?"

"I do it myself, love."

"Would you help me with mine, I really suck at it." I sighed.

"Sure." She smiled and brushed her lips with mine.

"I was thinking, we can buy the equipment, cameras, and bugs. Having it could be useful, just in case."

"I like it, we can deduce it from taxes, and they're work related items." Ivy nodded. And then she got in alert mode, I heard the shout from the entrance.

"V! It's me. Don't flip on me." The young vampire was already in the archway entering to the kitchen at vamp speed. "At least I could get into the first car. Mom and Daddy, and Rynn are coming." She told us and blinked; she wasn't expecting to see her sister on my lap. I kissed my vamp's lips lightly and let her stand. Erica was wearing pretty normal clothes for a girl her age. It looked like the war amongst vamps took away her gothic image after all she couldn't go out alone. Her family was a target. And they were coming right away. _Round two with the undead, Rache, brace yourself and smile. Let's see if they have something on Francesca Borgia. The day is not over this still could get better._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Of course, I will explain eventually some of the things I didn't in the previous chapters. Just be patient with me a little more. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 6

I opened the kitchen door when I heard the soft knocking. The kitchen was warm and the time cooking had achieved a very rich and appealing mix of smells: the apple pie, the roast beef and the baked potatoes; the odors were inviting and welcoming. Rynn Cormel wore one of his expensive Armani suits. He looked fine in them no matter his corpulence. Ivy's Dad was more casual but his outfit became him, no tie, sport jacket well matched to his trousers, classic for men. Ivy's mom was at his arm dressed with a business suit; she was a big shot in IS offices. She was beyond attractive: her hair was free, she used it long, and it was ebony heavy silkiness. Her body was trim but her proportions were exquisite and nature given marvels. On top of all she had the grace and elegance of the vamps.

"Please come in." I said giving them the required space. They entered. I could see some bodyguards positioning outside without noise, at least not for my hearing capabilities. I closed the door when Ivy's family and Rynn were inside. An unpleasant odor came to my nose from the outside when I closed the door. A faded scent I couldn't precise, but it was simply revolting._ I have no time for this now._

"Hey, love." Ivy was hugging her father and he kissed the forehead of my vamp. "That smells really good!" he commented.

"There's plenty if you want to join us for supper." I offered politely.

"That would be… interesting." Rynn nodded locking his blue eyes with mine.

"Good. Just let me clear the table and we seat." I said already in my way to Ivy's things.

"Help her Rica." Mr. Randall asked softly to the youngest of his daughters still hugging and checking on Ivy.

"Yes daddy." She began to gather the files, maps and the penholders quickly. I guided her to my desk already carrying Ivy's lap top and some folders. The undead woman was examining Ivy with her calculating eyes; they were as brown as Ivy's eyes.

"I think is about time of building a private office in the front for all this." I commented lightly as Erica was taking the rest in a second trip to my desk.

"Maybe you're right, babies make such a mess when they are learning to eat." My lover nodded a bit pensive "That's not good for papers and computers."

"More taxes to deduce." I headed to the counter busing myself with the last preparations for the dinner.

"Oh yes." She nodded opening a cabinet door to retrieve the plates. Mr. Randall and Erica moved the table to place the chairs properly and Ivy set the places with the silverware and the plates.

"Taxes?" Rynn asked taking the head of the table.

"We were discussing about some modifications and the ways to lessen the taxes." Ivy told him casually.

"You look a lot better." Rynn said taking a good look of her. She didn't change her clothes; she still was wearing the baggy sweater in black and the leggings. And he grabbed my wrist without violence or much force when I was placing on the table a little basket with fresh bread. "And I can see you tried for blood awake. Fresh marks but not that fresh." He commented letting me go, of course I did nothing to cover the bite because for vampires showing them was a token of love and respect. Ivy could think I was ashamed of her. _Been there, done that_. Besides having that marks now that I was claimed wasn't a danger. Other vamps now couldn't affect me. _And I love Ivy, showing the marks it is showing the world I love her. _"How did that work?" he asked as I went for the salad.

"Strangely well." Ivy said honestly sitting at her place when I shushed her that way without words. I put the second bread little basket in place.

"What do you mean with that?...and what in heaven's name is that?" Ms. Tamwood stared at my colored hand. _Oh, yes you used your marked hand, Rache. You're a klutz!_

"Ah! It's the new design for my Were pack tattoo." I said folding the sleeve to show them my entire forearm "A little too much if you asked me but we are a democracy and one vote against it was not the majority" I shrugged my shoulders and unfolded the sleeve. "That's why I'm covering it"

"It's cool." Erica shrugged her shoulders. "V has the piercings and you have the tattoos." She chuckled.

"I have just one piercing." Ivy pointed.

"But you only were at the groceries' store and the butcher." Rynn said letting us know we were under his surveillance. I had to control my face. I hated that. The master vamp was acting like if we belonged to him.

"It came by e-mail. I fashioned it with magic." I clarified going for the butter as Ms. Tamwood sat down in _my_ place in front of Ivy's chair. _Damn vamps, but they are the guests today._

"Ah it is just a try-out." The master vamp nodded, he seemed to be in a good mood, making little talks.

"For a year or so, I think I overdid the potion." _Now I have to beg to David and the ladies to use it!_ "Warm red wine?" I offered changing the subject.

"Yes please." Mr. Randall nodded already taking a piece of the bread.

"Have you eaten anything today?" Ivy's mom asked her directly.

"Yes I have and I also ate last night." Ivy was slightly tense. I already knew she didn't enjoy being around her mother. I came with the butter and the wine.

"What?" the undead woman crossed her arms over her middle, her tone was demanding. Ms Tamwood arched one eyebrow with a mastery that made Ivy's even a bit childish._ My God this is the real thing!_ I thought impressed.

"Before dawn: Filet mignon with white sauce, bread, lettuce salad. This afternoon we awake late so, I took a dozen pancakes, fried bacon, 3, no, 4 eggs in a cheese omelet with fresh tomatoes and two pieces of butterscotch pie, mother, with like 2 liters of orange juice, 4 coffee cups, and a milk bottle." Ivy enumerated a bit stiffy in a resigned tone.

"All of that?" Erica gasped startled. The oldest vamps exchanged surprised glances.

"And a little blood from Rachel last night just for trying." Ivy sighed.

"No nausea on that?" asked Rynn

"None whatsoever, just…" my girl trailed off.

"Just?" her mother arched one more time the eyebrow amazing me with her studied skill. _Why I can't do that? It's so cool!"_

"I heard the babies… when I was taking Rachel's blood I could hear the things she was hearing… the babies get very playful and active when I'm taking her blood. Why that happened, mom? Did you experience something like that?" she asked seriously.

That put a pensive grimace on all of them except for Erica whom bit a piece of bread to maintain the silence.

"No, the only times in my life I lost my bloodlust were the two times I was pregnant, Ivy. That was the indication for me. My bloodlust was overwhelming since I was barely 13 years old. Do you have bloodlust now?" the undead vamp asked interested in some level. She was utterly interested only on the matters related to her bloodline.

"Yes. I thought I was cured of it when the very thinking of blood gave me nauseas. But now I want Rachel's blood more than never before. And it's not only me. One of the babies… she asked for her blood too. Not with words but with sounds and… feelings." She defined slowly, letting the fact to amaze the vamps. New exchanging of looks from one another gave me the idea this wasn't normal at all.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Randall asked spreading butter in a half of bread piece.

"Yes, we are. One of them asks for blood and the other baby seems to enjoy the food better." I told him.

"What about other source of blood?" Rynn asked.

"The only thought of that is revolting." Ivy said shaking her head side to side once "We believe this could be yet another effect of the spell."

"Oh, yes. Erica told us what you talked about last night before disappear. Very, very interesting stuff. I want to hear all of that for myself." Rynn said in a deceitful polite tone. He wasn't open to a negative. He served himself some salad before passing it to Ms. Tamwood.

So, I told them the story of the tablet once again. The finding, the translation, the curse on it, the difficulties and finally the way it ended working. I talked while I served the dinner. The cream was a success and the sauce Claire Britt made for us was superb. Even the undead complimented on it. By the time I finished the tale all of us had finished the dinner, except for Ivy, she was repeating on the baked potatoes and the roast beef, she was so hungry, and that was understandable, she had been starving for weeks. Kimberly Tamwood seemed satisfied watching her appetite. The same for her father and her Master, they exchanged glances and smiles of relief. If Ivy kept eating like this, she would recover weight in a short lapse of time, and that would assured the Tamwood heirs to reach their term in a healthy way.

"Very unexpected. Both of Ivy's interpretations would satisfy any required explanation. One; you killed yourself not to be a shadow before your master could give you any order. Two, You in some way exchanged your life for hers…" Rynn said thoughtful " But the truth is so unthinkable and peculiar we wouldn't know if you were dead, Rachel."

"Yes." I agreed. "However the binding occurred at the same time the spell was already in motion and it is not functioning the way usually works. I think the spell messed with it big time." I added pensively.

"That's true. Rachel simply doesn't have the slightest compulsion to obey any order from me. I tried several times with and without authority. Nothing, if she doesn't want to do it, she doesn't do it. In the other hand the physical part seems to be pretty normal. She responds to my pheromones the way she supposed to do. But she already had in her system a massive amount of neurotoxins since that demon bit her with my form and even I have bitten her twice in a row she still experiences pain." Ivy explained.

"I've heard about that too. They told me the demon had orders to kill you in the scariest way he could. And he chose to kill you with Ivy's form by biting you to death. Why were you so afraid of her?" Rynn asked curious. He had seemed human all night long, now I could see for myself how he fouled Ivy at first. He even pretended to care; he could pass as an affectionate friend most of the time.

"I wasn't." I shrugged my shoulders. "I wanted to believe I was. But I wasn't."

"No?" it was Ivy whom asked staring at me with a preoccupied frown.

"No, I was avoiding the issue, Ivy. I was afraid of myself when I was around you. Because I deep inside knew since the beginning that I would fall for you, that I would let myself go and be lost on you. You could kill me and I wouldn't lift a finger to fight you. Because I wanted you since the very first moment I met you. And I wasn't brave enough to accept that fact about me. Despite the multiple opinions against it, I have a preservation instinct and that and my stubbornness in not trusting anyone made me transform your life in living hell." I sighed "And the proof is that Al started to use my own form to scare me right after that. Because I knew the truth even when I wasn't able to verbalize it or even confront it, much less to accept it." I said clearly I was a complicated woman, she knew that, my eyes never left hers. She barely nodded. I had touched her very deep. Now she could be sure of me. "May I tempt you with Apple pie?" I went to cut one of the pies and I retrieved the empty plate from Ivy's place in my way to do it.

"Yes please!" Erica said enthusiastically. "Do you have any ice cream?"

"We have chocolate and vanilla. I put them in the freezer." I nodded.

"I'll get it." The young vamp went to the fridge at once.

"I have some butterscotch pie in there too." I said cutting the pie to serve the plates.

"It's a shame the spell is lost." Rynn said still pensive.

"No, it's not. Where do you find a witch willing to die to grant someone else's wish? It wouldn't work if you buy the will or if you in some way manage to blackmail or force him or her. A shadow lacks of self will. And with lack of true intention and true willingness the thing doesn't work at all, Rynn. It was unpredictable magic and trigger it required a lot of will and resilience to pain. It let me in a coma for 6 months and a half. And I'm not a weak witch." I said seriously.

"No, you aren't." Ivy smiled at me. She was already serving the coffee. "But somehow I think when I bound you to me; I bound myself to you as well."

"Why do you believe that, sweetheart?" Mr. Randall asked her.

"Because, dad, her blood is beyond delicious to me but even my own revolts my stomach." Ivy sighed; she did not regret that now.

"Maybe it's just that you're pregnant now, dear. We do not know it for sure until the babies had born. It might be because they're mine too, so they accept my blood because it's compatible but no one else's because that made them feel ill. And if they feel ill, you also feel ill." I disagreed while I was placing the plates with the pie in front of every one at the table.

"That could be right. Your blood makes me feel invigorated, I hadn't felt weak since I awake after taking it. And the babies had been so active since then too. Now they are dancing all over the place. Now I'm hungry half of the time. But when I was taking other blood even the food wasn't edible after a while." She sat again on her place with an uncertain expression on her face.

"We wait to see. Anyway it's fascinating. If this is the way you believe it is. This could be the first interspecies birth for vampire kind." Rynn stated with a sincere smile.

"A doubtful honor if you asked me." Ms. Tamwood said with a frown. Ivy frowned at her as well offended by her cold scorn.

"Well if you approved or not, it's happening. And we need to know what is normal and what is not." I said coldly placing at last my own plate. That woman could really affect Ivy. I had not seen her like this before. Somehow, a part of my vamp lover craved for the approval of her mother, knowing she could not please her. Kimberly gazed at me, with a frown; her eyes just had a rim of brown. Like the day before, her calculating and chilling eyes did not worry me in the slightest. I returned her stare with the same boredom as the day before. Until she decided I was not worthy of her anger again, and the brown came back to her gaze. "So, bloodlust is not normal. That much was crystal clear. Is it normal for an unborn vampire to have bloodlust?" I asked her directly.

"No, the vamp babies are very much as human babies are. The food, the games, there are the same. They like to sleep in day time, that's all the difference. The bloodlust comes until teen years. Around 12 and 13 for the earlier cases like mine. And as late as 17 for others. But none have born with bloodlust." Ivy's mother explained to me.

"That could be very difficult to manage if the baby continues having it after the birth. What other differences they could have? We have to wait to see." The master vamp joined the conversation again, and I could see his amusement. It was like if he enjoyed when I was being sassy at them. Erica seemed surprised but she took a mouthful of ice cream before saying a thing. She did not enjoy be around her mom either if she was in a bad mood. It had to be hard on her; her mother died her first death when Erica was a child. Enduring an undead mother, unable to love and care properly of her offspring could not be easy for any child.

"What about Francesca Borgia?" Ivy asked all the sudden. Directly to her master. He frowned throwing a quick glance at me.

"We agreed she needs to know for the sake of her mental health. But she doesn't interfere without a viable option." I sighed. That wasn't going to be easy. Ivy had a temper too. The master vamp nodded once.

"She hasn't returned my greetings, yet. I sent her a present. I want to move carefully. She already knows about you, Rachel. The moment she has you in her range of movement she will make you her shadow to master your magical capabilities. I'm a pleasant guy; I have been patient with you because I think you would do your best by yourself." There was again, his patronizing and enervating way to threaten us, without losing a bit of his politesse. He wasn't deceiving anyone, and he knew it!

"And you're right, Rynn. I work better for myself. Know this: the moment I turn into a shadow, a regular one; all my potential as a witch gets lost. You don't have to threaten me with the things the others or you can do to me. I'm an asset for you. I know that very well. You have tried to make of Ivy a shadow of herself just to control me. That was a mistake, I don't deal very well with menaces and I have a hot temper, it is yet another of my weaknesses." I said with a frown, my temper was getting out of my control, and his grimace told me he didn't expect an outburst, before turning his face into an unreadable mask of coldness. That probably wasn't a good sign, but I couldn't shut my trap.

"Let's be sincere here, Rynn, you have power over Ivy. I love her beyond myself. I died for her; even for few minutes, but I meant to die for good. I only have one life to give and it's hers; that means you already have power over me too. I won't go back on my word I have never done that. And I can't ask Ivy to be a renegade. She is part of the vamp community in Cinci. She is a responsible person. She is loyal even when you already have betrayed her in a worst way than Piscary did." I accused at him with a somber grimace. At that point, I saw the little reaction on his blackening eyes. "Piscary blood raped her; he told me very clearly, he thought Ivy was the one for him because she had the willingness to defy him over me. He tried to force her to be his… let's said wife because he didn't want to be bored with a woman too willing to obey him in every way. All he wanted was to break her will and her spirit and then he would be bored again. He almost made her marry to Kisten and have babies with him looking for a new breed of possible defiant woman. He didn't settle for her grandma or her mom, no. The moment Ivy defy him, he wanted her. If you asked me that was a pig as many others and very human too. What man doesn't want to break a strong woman? Almost all of you fantasize with that in some point of your lives." I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn't been too polite during my rambling. His eyes showed real surprise now. And he wasn't the only one.

"Did he tell you that?" Ivy blinked.

"Yes, when I went to fight with him over what he did to you that night." I nodded. "He was a pig, I don't understand the way you vamps are raised, Ivy. For me an old guy doing teens is gross. No matter how good he or she can look. An inexperienced kid could never have the criteria for dealing with that kind of things be that sex or bloodlust. Of course, the poor teen would be impressed and overwhelmed by the mastery of any old undead vamp when the vamp has the ability to seem human at will, the kids are vulnerable because they are passing a tough time, struggling with the changes, like if adolescence wasn't difficult enough without the bloodlust. You have seen what that did to Skimmer. And you didn't have a pleasant ride either, did you?" I sighed when I saw the shadows on her eyes, and her face, the shadows of things she wasn't proud of. I hurt Ivy and on top of that, I just had offended all vamps and their culture with my angry ranting. It was a tradition for the master vamps to supervise the first experiences regarding bloodlust and to teach the younglings of their race to manage that hunger. I took a deep breath "Sorry, I didn't want to remind you of those things. Piscary at least had a real interest on Ivy because he wanted her for him. Unlike you, you only pretended to use her to control me, Rynn. My point is that I already gave my word and I wouldn't go back on that. It's not me doing that kind of things. Regrettably for myself, I have sense of honor. Of course I don't want to end as a shadow for any other vamp. Magic is not that easy even with all your will, without it, it's a suicide. Therefore, Rynn, even when you also tried to break Ivy she didn't run away. Please don't do it again; don't use treats, don't menace any of us. That is not necessary. Ivy already had paid her dues and our kids are going to need a community to back them up too. You have all the aces on the play already and we can't forget it. But we can do this pleasantly, we were having a nice dinner, weren't we?" I softened my tone at the end. "I'm sorry; I had to take it out the way for good." I sighed. The master Vamp laughed amused rather than upset.

"That was rude on me as well; I'm sorry, I have to be a little rough most of the time. Of course, I know you are a woman of your word. However, even if I truly believe that you could do a better job as the things are. I know the other Master Vamps don't think that way. And you are a target for the most of them. I wasn't menacing you, I just let you know the risks you are facing." He said in his best friendly mood.

"Thank you. I am very aware of that. Now let us go back to business. Do you know Francesca Borgia face to face?" I asked.

"I saw her once when I was a kid. My mother was working in South America then. Francesca Borgia took the zone; in the process, she erased three entire camarillas. The zone is still under her control. She has zones all over the world. My mother died twice then. I'm here because the guerilla gathered all the underage kids and took us through the jungle. My mother and the very witch that was trying to avoid the vamp camarillas took everything for themselves leaving the weres and the others with nothing; the very witch whom organized and leader the guerilla saved us." His unreadable mask fainted and the memories seemed to trigger some response very similar to hatred. "Francesca in person chased us, my mother and the witch had to stay behind to give us time to escape; I saw them die to give us a chance. First, it was my mother, even when the witch tried to stop her; five days later the witch sent us ahead to make a stand against Borgia alone. Perhaps that's why I'm so interested in you, Rachel, in some way you remember me of that witch." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "She was a kid herself." He sighed, he surely knew how to look human and concerned about a stranger.

"Francesca doesn't know I was there, I have my father's name. Therefore, I know the danger first hand. And here things don't have improved, not in the slightest. I suspected intervention from even outside. And I'm beginning to think Francesca has a lot to do with it. The moment you mentioned her I started to remember, Rachel. Here the quarrels began exactly the same that in South America all those years ago. Exactly when the focus appeared again, the troubles started. By now, most of the more important camarillas know that you got it. Your name is famous. Kalamack, Saladan, Piscary. You are a target and not only for Francesca. That's why I have you two under surveillance all the time. What do you know about Francesca besides her blood and bed habits?" he asked.

"Not much. Only that she deals with demons herself; she doesn't need witches for summoning them, Francesca deals with more than two demons. She pays them with witches. And she is sneaky and snide." I remembered all the sudden the unpleasant odor. I took a deep breathe, no, there wasn't any bad odor in here. "Demons don't talk much about her methods. They only complimented a lot on hers. That maybe means she deceives in mastery degree. 9 names mean at least 7 thousand years old; maybe even up to 8 or 9. I know she looks young, naturally young because she died her first death in her early twenty's or before that."

"She is tall, like Ivy I'd said. And she is statuesque, very attractive. Black hair, I think from northern Europe." Rynn said with a concentrated grimace; trying to remember.

"Close, she was born in a Viking tribe. Maybe she is a bit taller and much more corpulent than Ivy, Maeve is her first name. And she likes to use transformation amulets, since the beginning. She likes to change into white wolf, and gigantic bat. She is very old fashioned, very Dracula's movie type." I shrugged my shoulders. "And who knows what she has been getting from the demons? She might have abilities like no other vamp you know. There are a lot of demonic curses to enhance a variety of features, both physical and mental. She has been dealing with them even before the ever after got totally abandoned by the elves. And she is dangerous, maybe the most dangerous master Vamp in the whole world today. She is stronger than most of you, only for her age. She has survived wars, conquerors, and all kinds of ambushes. No one today dares to cross her path; and those who do it without knowing, well, they don't live much longer. She is the epitome of the murderer vamp. She is the reason of many nightmares for mortals and undead. And I said it; she is old fashioned, she likes torture, pain and she enjoys doing it personally. If she captured your mother, I'm so sorry for her, Rynn. She didn't die fast and neither the witch. Francesca is especially vicious with witches. I think one witch kill her once and didn't finished the job." I frowned thoughtful. "I hope I don't have to kill her to get the info, it wouldn't be an easy task." I sighed "She surely has protections of all kinds against witches. With the amount of us that she has slaughtered throughout the millennia she has been around, many had tried to kill her for vengeance. And she is still undead. That tells me she had outsmarted even demons." I lost my eyes in the contents my mug of coffee.

"Why?" Erica asked interested serving herself another piece of pie along with some ice cream.

"Give me some of that, Rica." Ivy said going for the carafe to pour all of us more coffee.

"Sure, V." the young vamp went for her plate and served it generously. She also refilled the plate of her father, and he smiled to her, nodding grateful for her concern. "Sorry, Rache. Why?" she seated in front of me again.

"That's obvious, Rica. Witches can deal with demons. And Witches with vengeance like a motivation, surely more than a few along the millennia had tried to send a demon to kill Francesca, despite the cost." Ivy told her pensive. "The cost usually is the soul of the petitioner, Rica; or worst: a very long life of slavery as a demon familiar only to be killed when they become useless to the demon." She stated seriously getting back to her chair.

"That's a very educated guess. But since Francesca is still undead; that means she must have traps for demons as well. When you trap a demon trying to kill you, he doesn't have to obey anymore to the summoner who sent him. If Francesca caught the demons then she could do a new deal with them to make the demon kill the unaware witch that same night or bring him or her to make the killing personally." I explained. "So, it will be very, very difficult accessing to her books in the bad way; and if I get caught trying to sneak in without her permission, the best odds for me would be trying to kill her. But if I can't kill her, she would kill me for sure probably dismembering me bit by bit, or with a combination of medieval tortures from burning, to whiplashes, to partial skin off, to partial disembowel and all kinds of painful things you can imagine and a sadist could enjoy; the last witch she tortured lasted 2 weeks; it wasn't pretty, if I'm lucky she kills me right away, but if she decides to play with me." I moved my head side to side. "And for the pretty picture if I miraculously do kill her then the other vamps of her camarilla would fall over me like a flock of prey birds and I would be dead anyway, probably before I could notice it. If I put down the big one, the small ones wouldn't risk I could kill anyone else." I sighed before take a sip of coffee.

"What do you expect to find in those books, Rachel?" Rynn tasted the pie.

"A hint I can use. See, Rynn. Demon magic books are traps. Demons wrote them. They intended to feed the greed, the desire for power of the witches and humans. Witches and humans are their primary targets. They can use them as familiars. A familiar with a soul can take all the smut the demon produces with every curse he makes. A witch is simply unable to perform any demonic curse. You need demon blood to activate them. Humans are simply too stupid to realize they are losing their souls until it's too late. Souls are items demons treasure, for a variety of blood chilling purposes. Witches let themselves to be fooled by the promises of the demons. Many, like Tom, believe that having a little smut on their souls is not a big deal. _It is_. The equilibrium of the worlds is in stake here. Every time a curse is made, the balance shifts a bit, a tiny bit. And at long term, the worlds will collide. The demons know that will happen, and that it will be the end of all races. And still they continue doing it. We, all magic practitioners, contribute to the imbalance every day. At the end, this world will be the same as ever after is now, and shortly after that, both worlds will crash into each other. We are talking about thousands of years, this will not happen tomorrow. But in about 3 or 4 thousand years the worlds will collide. And all we know will cease to exist." I said aghast. That was coming from the back of my mind. I wasn't even thinking about that. "Magic that is not paid for the witch, the elf or the demon that makes it adds and adds to the imbalance. We only can speculate of the consequences the souls face when we die, but having smut on the soul is not the only thing it will happen. What we are pursuing, Rynn is an unnatural deed. And only demons can do successfully unnatural changes. And we're not talking about any demon. It has to be a powerful one, a higher demon, with age, and experience in that kind of curses. Not all the demons survived to the war. Moreover, some of the books Francesca has collected can be the ones that demons wrote. I don't know. I'm only hoping. Earth magic is not strong enough for what you want, Rynn, and ley line magic by itself, the same. What we want would require a lot of payment, that much, I know. Only for the very nature of the goal we aim at." I said to him locking my eyes on his face, now I was in a very reflexive mood.

"But you think is doable." He retorted.

"Of course it is. If the demons created the Weres, if I somehow impregnated Ivy; there is no impossibles for magic, Rynn." I sighed "But you have to be very aware that the things can go very wrongly. Maybe what you expect to happen won't be what you think it should be."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Randall asked me.

"How much can live a human, Robert?" I asked.

"About 80 years if they take care of their health." The vamp girl answered.

"That's true. And vampires are in the bottom line humans enhanced by a virus." I said, even Ivy frowned and of course they didn't like to be compared with the food, because they have been at the top of the food chain for millennia. Ivy didn't give a minute of consideration before refusing to be a human because she didn't want to be at the bottom of the food chain. "I don't mean any offense with this; I just want to explain the things as they are. You are humans and no more than that, and Nature always tries to balance things. Nature takes your souls once you have completed the natural cycle of a human meaning when you die your first death. It's a natural resource to oblige you to die as was intended for your race. Once you don't have a soul you depend on the ones who love you to remind you about love and the things are worth to live for. And when they die or lost their own souls then the vacuum of a night existence make the most of you kill yourselves. Only the most resilient, the most willing can overcome that vacuum and fill it with other goals. Those can live for millennia if they maintain that will and that resilience. But what they are doing with all that time?" I asked them with my eyes lost in the coffee again. Most elder undead vamps ended up running the underworld, and moving things for their best interests in all the levels. They ruled the inderlander life in its totality, not only they were at the top of the food chain. They were in the top of every aspect in our lives. Politically, economically, socially, only they did not make it openly. They preferred to work from the shadows; they were the puppet masters pulling the strings from above the stage.

"Any way, that's not the point. The point is if you lose the soul is because Nature is wise. I will go against nature for love. All I care about is Ivy, you know I won't stop because of that; maybe I'm a hopeless romantic but we dreamers can change the way things are if we work hard on them. You are right in betting on me by me, 'cause being a regular shadow would kill all my potential because magic without true will it's really suicide. A Vamp wouldn't know when to stop; so he o she would kill me making experiments to see my limits. A complacent shadow would not know about limits and with the kind of thing you want; even a strong witch would die before accomplish anything." I explained seriously. "Of course if I have to die in order to save Ivy's soul, I will, I already did; and I also have to think about our kids. The three of them are my reason for living and I will find the way to maintain their souls with them, as long they want to have them; if that benefits others, well, so be it." I locked my eyes with his again. "But maybe this will take years. As I said to Ivy yesterday; demons only have ways to capture and torture souls; and tortured souls get mad, monstrous; that is not a viable option; that only would produce mass murderers and more suicidal undead vamps. What I have to do, is finding another way; maybe I can base it on the work of demons. That's what I'm hoping for: to find a base to work with it, to make viable and normal undead vamp with soul. The biggest problem is that a dead body can not support a soul. Soul needs living tissue to feed from. And it can be a major problem: to achieve a part even a tiny part of your bodies don't die with the rest." I explained pensive. "Too Frankenstein isn't it?" I smiled to an almost open mouthed Erica. She giggled and took another spoon with ice cream. "Or in the other way. Try to anchor the soul to a living close love one; I need also to get some very old books about the properties of some plants. The ones a witch named Klabrgh wrote about 3 thousand years ago in Europe; there's if any, two known copies. One is in the hands of an unknown Witch who bought it like 50 years ago in a Sotheby's auction, as a part of a collection of rare books for millions of dollars and the other was robbed from a museum in Germany 150 years ago. That's all the data I have from them." I remembered that tiny piece of info all of the sudden.

"I'll make an inquiry on that. What's the use?" he asked.

"Rynn if what I heard about that witch is half true, maybe the basis for the way we look for are in her book. And that's counting with the plants aren't extinguished by now. According to the legend. That witch managed to revive partially a dead man. And she maintained his heart alive and beating for like 20 years in his otherwise mummified body. We only have to maintain alive a part of your bodies to feed the soul. That's half of the deed. The other half will be to bind the soul in that living part and for that is I'm hoping to find clues and hints in the demon books of Francesca. We have to work in both theories: One; Preserving a living part on your bodies after the first death; and two: trying to anchor the soul on a close love one. That's the best we can achieve. And for that we need a lot of research and practical experiments. That means to get rare herbs and other ingredients, some of them will not be easy to find." I warned seriously with my professional voice.

"Now you are talking, Morgan!" He smiled pleased "Now you are demonstrating us you have researched. And of course I will do anything in my power to help you find the necessary items. I know for the elves took decades; I'm hoping to see results but I'm a realistic man, I know this will take years. That's fine, as long we are working on it. I know there must be failures. That will be fine. That's the only way to make progress." Now he was talking like in one of his speeches when he did announcements as President of our country.

"I'm glad you're a logical guy, Rynn." I nodded "Ah, do you remember what I told you about the little ritual of Francesca?" I asked getting upset.

"Of course I do." The master vamp almost left his eyes to roll up like if I was questioning his memory skills.

"Well, now makes sense to me the way she chased you on the jungle in South America. Francesca gets her kicks from causing pain not only to the humans and witches. The dozen kids she drains every 10 years are the younglings of her subjects. Every ten years she drains to their first deaths to a dozen of teen living vamps and then she sent them to do her dirty jobs on the zones you mentioned, Rynn. Erica would be undead if she was her master. The last ceremony was five years ago. Erica would be taking care of one of the illegal business Borgia has all over the world. And that if she was one of the lucky ones she didn't kill twice that night. Because she murderers at least 5; depending on her humor. Once like 300 years ago, she killed them all twice. Other occasions she had killed up until seven or eight of them. That is not normal not even for a master vamp. She really has a goddess complex. You know there's not that much vamp kids to waste in that kind of thing." My eyes went to the Master Vamp. Rynn had the jaws very forcefully closed, outraged for the revelation. "Why do you think they were chasing you, Rynn? When she hasn't enough kids to murder in her little ritual, she simply snatches them from other camarillas. Your mom saved you from being a pseudo scion of Francesca. And Natalie. Natalie had escaped from a trap Francesca put for her. Natalie can be your ally on this if you play well the cards." I told him cautiously. "She is smart enough not to cross Francesca openly and if you want to stay undead you won't either. But you will need any ally you can get. You're not old, Rynn. You got the position because the contribution you made to the world. You are an icon. But that won't mean crap for Francesca. There are many ways of making a martyr of you after your second death. Please be very careful. I don't want Ivy in the hands of another master. I have a deal with you. A good deal. Don't get killed, please." I asked worried.

The master vamp nodded with a smile. Now he was convinced of my commitment with him. Of course, as long as he would protect Ivy, he would have my cooperation unconditionally. After all, he was a pleasant guy most of the time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Of course, I will explain eventually some of the things I didn't in the previous chapters. Just be patient with me a little more because I have to base a pair of line plots in this chapter. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 7

David came with Serena and Cali to the church a little after midnight, as I asked him to do. I proposed them to use the weird marks, even dough I had to lie in the how I got them. Cali seemed very pleased with it. And David agreed more out of chivalry than for anything else. Serena agreed with some hesitation. I explained them it would itch like an hour and lasted about a year. They all drank the potion. I explained to them about the case of Miss Britt. Both, David and Serena accepted to help with that too. Serena promised to have the list of questions the next day for the clients to have a look of them and some rehearsal of them before the meeting. They were happy to see me alright after that much time in coma.

Glenn was very surprised when I made a call to him. After some congrats on his behalf, and medical explanations on mine, I asked him if he knew someone on FBI's fraud division while commenting the case. He promised to look for a friend of his training that was working on that division.

The next morning I went with Ivy to a very specific store. We bought the cameras and microphones. Jenks and Jhan came with us. I made a purchase for myself in another nearby place when they were discussing about which cameras could work better for our job, I saw my chance of being by myself for some minutes. I had something in mind and fate seemed to be on my side because what I was looking for, I found it right away.

After buying the equipment, we headed for Claire Britt's home. It was outside the city between country and city. It was a very impressive mansion on a hill. Modern style, two pools, several sport courts: tennis, basketball, croquet. Surrounded by beautiful gardens where a lot of pixies were playing and taking care of them. The place had two wings and a main house on a massive three-story building. There were several architectural styles inside the property, as Ivy told me when we were driving over the stone road inside. The wings were added after. They have a little very old chapel too in the middle of a huge garden, and a guesthouse in much modern country style, near the main building.

Renata was waiting for us outside of the main house. The garage was huge and filled with several motorcycles, since Harley-Davison to Nighthwing, as well as a collection of cars. Ivy was impressed and excited: Aston Martin in silver tone, a black Ferrari, a red Lamborghini, a white Porsche and more classic cars, like Cadillac, and Rolls Royce, Mercedes, BMW. Claire Britt was a millionaire and she liked expensive and fast cars. They even had a mechanic wing as well, attached to the garage.

Claire was in her stadium size kitchen working. Renata led us there. Now it was my turn of being blown away. There were several enormous refrigerators, twelve stoves, restaurant size, many ovens, several counters; the cleaning part was in a corner with all the best for big appliances. The floor was an intricate design in colors, but as clean as a surgery room. Employees were bringing things, washing things, chopping things, more like disciples than employees. Everyone seemed happy. The cook was wearing a white uniform and an impeccable apron like everybody else working in the kitchen. It looked like they were doing a banquet. We said hello, and Renata took us to the office in one of the wings.

The Were explained us: She had lived with Claire in the main house until Susannah got in there. Now she used to live in the guesthouse. The human wasn't there. At least we didn't see her. Jenks and Jahn put the little cameras, state of the art, well hidden on the Bookshelves behind the desk, the lamp and the desk itself. And also well distributed microphones. Claire joined us when they had all the equipment connected and a new laptop was receiving the images and the sound loud and clear. They revised the question list Serena had e-mail us. The cook invited us to a brunch. We were inderlanders and four in the afternoon were too early for us to eat a complete meal. Two of the pixies from the gardens spent all the time with Jenks and Jhan asking questions and chatting about gardens and gardening. Of course, both of our pixies wore red bandanas on their heads showing they were not pouching in other pixies' gardens. Claire was charming. Even Ivy liked her a lot, I could tell. And the food was exquisite. Renata was a very likable girl as well.

We returned home stopping only to rent a pair of movies. I busied myself cleaning, doing our laundry, cooking the meal and planning the dinner. Ivy was in the kitchen with me. Matalina and the kids had harvested most of the herbs I needed. I had promised Rynn and Ivy's family protections against demons, although, the preparations to cook the spells would take me several days.

"Dear heart." Ivy called me when she saw one specific receipt. I had given her my purse to check on them and prepare my taxes. "What is this?"

"Ouch! I forgot it! I wanted to be a surprise, but it's Ok. Remember when Jenks and you were discussing the better equipment for the case?" I asked getting a bit uneasy and I blushed. This wasn't what I was planning. I thought of making a special dinner tonight and then asking her this. _Busted. You can do this Rachel just ask her!_

"When you excused yourself to go to the bathroom?" she arched her eyebrow. I smiled at her sheepishly. "And you returned like 20 minutes later? And with a jewelry receipt in your purse." She swung it between two fingers.

"Well, there was one just across the electronic equipment store, babe. Do you remember I told you I had planned some things to protect you and our babies?" I left the dishes on the table and sat beside her pulling out of my pocket the little box. I put it in front of her. "If you don't like them, we can change them for others." I offered feeling a little nervous. My vamp stared at me and then at the little jewelry box.

Then she opened it and she almost gasped when she saw the two wedding rings inside, over the black velvet. They were very simple without any design carved on the white gold, but wide, solid and thick rings, with smooth rounded edges. Her eyes brightened with emotion, the brown on them going thinner and thicker. "The inside part has a ring of red wood very much like the one my dad gave me to hide my freckles. I will turn them into charms with more than one powerful spell, dear. In a way I can sense if you are in danger and the same with yours, they will be bind like us…" I explained and couldn't say another word because she was kissing me intensely, deeply. I brought her to my lap to hug her closely and stroked her back and the nap of her neck.

"Wedding rings, little witch?" she purred against my mouth and locked her eyes with mine, our foreheads joined.

"Would you use it with me, Ivy Tamwood?" I asked in a bass tone very low. I was very moved for her reaction. And I was proposing at her. This was a marriage proposal. Maybe we couldn't get married but for us it would be a life commitment. This was serious. _I'm old fashioned after all._ Ivy stared at my face. She was happy and excited. She knew I was serious, she really understood me. She had loved me for a long time. She always had wished this for us. Her smile was sated and longing. Happiness, warmth happiness glared upon her eyes and her smile. _I'm happy too. I'm able to make her happy. And she is expecting our children. We will be moms. _

"I will use it for the rest of my life and undead after life, Rachel Morgan!" She kissed me again. We were still kissing when Erica entered.

"Hey, get a room!" she giggled. "Daddy left me here before going to do some business. Could I stay for the meal and dinner?"

"We rented a pair of movies. One is for the children if you want to join us." Ivy smiled to her and got on her feet to hug her. We ate chatting of little nothings. And then Erica asked me.

"Did you call your mother?"

"I will now. Yesterday was too busy." I blushed. I had intended to call her.

"She called the hospital every third day the last month and before that she did it every day." Ivy told me. I went to take the phone and I dialed the number.

"Hello." A stranger's voice answered the phone. But it was a woman voice. Young and vital.

"Good afternoon, is Alice Morgan there?" I asked politely. Maybe mom had visitors.

"Who's calling?" the woman had a nice voice and sounded worried.

"Rachel, I'm her daughter." I said. I knew Ivy and Erica could hear her as well as me, being sat down in front of me across the table.

"Rachel? But she is in a coma since almost 7 months ago" she sounded doubtful and serious.

"I woke up from the coma, who's this?" I asked her with a little frown.

"Oh, pardon me, I'm Cynthia, your sister in law…how?" she trailed off.

"Doctors don't know. I just woke up. Is mom there?" I asked for her again.

"Yes, of course, wait a second." She covered the phone but I could hear her calling mom by her name.

"Rachel? Is really you?" the emotion in mom's voice made me feel very guilty.

"Yes, mom, it's me. I'm Ok. I'm in home now, in the church. I woke up yesterday and…"

"You're not in the hospital anymore? Rachel that is wrong, you were in a coma, who's taking care of you?" she started to cry and the guilt multiplied on my conscience, my heart clenched. I hated when I hurt the people I love.

"I'm fine, mom, really." Of course, mom didn't believe me. It took me more than 20 minutes only for her to stop crying and actually listen to me. I went to the living room to talk alone with her when I felt my own eyes watering. Ivy came with a mug of coffee. "Ivy says hello, mom. We need to talk, mom."

I was a little depressed when after almost an hour I hung up the phone. Ivy came to hug me from behind I turned to hug her back tightly.

"Do you plan to tell her about us?" she asked me softly.

"Of course I will tell her, my love" I smiled "I tried two times, she didn't let me. First, I have to convince her I'm not dying. I'm sure the phone is going to ring in less than 5…" I couldn't say minutes because the ringing started. I pushed the button "Hi, mom… I told you I'm fine…Ivy, tell her I'm fine" I gave her the phone.

"Hello, Alice, I'm sorry I haven't called you as soon as she awakened but I was in a bit of…I'm fine, yes, much better. I… Yes, she is unbelievable, she is walking, she is… Really! Ah, let me pass her to you, glad to talk to you." She was overwhelmed in just 30 seconds. And I gave her a smartass look taking the phone.

"Mom, we need to talk face to face. Could you come here let's say the day past tomorrow? I have a run tomorrow. And Donald if he can. If you also could convince Robbie and his wife to come with you that would be perfect, mom. Something had happened and we need to talk." I said seriously. Mom started to sound alarmed again because of the run. "Mom, I have to work, I'm fine!" I repeated once again.

I was thinking whilst I was cooking the dinner. I knew mom would be coming soon. As soon she had the chance to tell Robbie. Things just kept popping from God knew where into my head: Spells, the potion with the fake tattoos, the protections, I just started and did them without even a book. Like when the spell to expand the lives of Jenks and Matalina just came inside a wave of hope amongst the pain; or when I healed the cut on Ivy's abdomen and my own wrist the night I awakened. Those things just came to me and I still couldn't grasp how. Furthermore, during the fight with Al, my body was acting on its own, the raw and overwhelming rage I felt; the murderer instinct I hadn't before, where those came from? Why I could steal Al's curses from him? How I had done it? I didn't have any answer.

My mind tracked off every time Ivy touched me or said anything. Mr. Randall picked Erica up at 11:00. After a heavy dinner and the two movies, one of them shared with all the pixies. Ivy took me straight to bed and we just made love. I could do the thinking later when I could be by myself and not distracted by the urgent looks, whispers and hands of my very aroused, very demanding vamp.

We had to ride over the speed limit to get on time to the famous cook's mansion. Glenn was already there with his friend. A human female about his age, she was a very attractive blonde-haired woman and very nice too. The FBI detective introduced us to her: Helen Macmillan. And David came with Serena, both of them in working suits. The agent wasn't familiarized with inderlanders, she stared a lot on us. Ivy was a living vamp, David and Serena; weres, Jenks and Jhan; pixies, and I was a witch and a fairly famous one. Renata came with Claire and we introduced everybody.

The meeting was a success for us. The amulet worked splendidly, they were robbing at them. Serena was bitchy but effective in her questioning, the cameras had everything. Helen was calling her boss even before the interview had finished.

The clients were very pleased since we brought already the right people for doing the complaint and Helen was very enthusiastic. She assured them justice would be done, and the basis were very strong thanks to the insightful questioning and aggressiveness of Serena. She agreed to be a witness for the case and we would give her a bonus. Claire invited us to brunch again. Renata talked with the weres almost like old friends. Making questions about the very unusual pack we were.

I saw not well-hidden interest between the humans. I felt good for Glenn; I feared once he and Ivy connected that way, maybe they did. _I don't want to know. And at least David never felt comfortable with Ivy flirting at him. Thank God for old-fashioned blood purists! In any other aspect, David is a great friend._ He told me we had to talk seriously about the pack. Perhaps being in a coma more than 6 months or having an official life partner that wasn't a Were made me unsuitable for continuing being the alpha bitch of his pack. That was all right with me I didn't want more than the insurance benefits when I agreed to be his alpha bitch.

Claire said to us the moment the auditory to the firm and their accounts were done, they would paid the rest of the honoraries to us and she gave us a new check for the rest of the basic fee I gave them. Another 10 thousand dollars that I handed to Ivy in front of them. Ivy was a very well organized administrator of the money, I wasn't.

Renata walked with us to the car. She really was a nice girl. However, she was very distressed about Claire's lover. She didn't like her a bit. We didn't see Susannah around today either.

"She is wasting all the money she can in clothes she doesn't need, jewelry that she only uses once or twice before deciding she doesn't like it; and you guessed well, she expends thousands every month in complexion amulets. She takes good care not to use the credit cards in the amulet's shops, but she is not that careful hiding the wrappings." She huffed annoyed. "I think she is older than I imagine." She sounded bitter.

"Probably she is just as ugly on her looks as she is in her ways." Ivy said with a smirk.

"You're excited about the baby, right?" Renata smiled warmly. Ivy blinked, until now she had successfully hidden her pregnancy with the right clothes and the distance she imposed to every one outside her family. "Oh come on, even I know is the very basic duty of any vamp heir: giving descendants to the line. You two remember me the videos when mom was pregnant and Claire took care of her. You are really in love with each other. That is obvious. I assumed you agreed on Ivy delivering the new heir and you will be the legal guardian of the baby." She said hopeful looking at me.

"I hope they call me mom too." I said with a goofy grin. I couldn't avoid liking Renata. She felt worthy of trust to me. "But it is a secret no one knows Ivy is expecting." I warned her in almost a pleading tone.

"I can imagine, I know about the quarrels and Tamwood line is important in Cincinnati. I won't tell anyone. Congratulations." She smiled again. "You are a nice couple. I only wish for Claire to find a good woman that really loves her not her money and fame." She sighed. "But Claire always falls for the worst woman in the room."

"Are you Ok with the fact she is lesbian?" Ivy went a bit curious.

"Yes, she deserves to be happy. And we are all different. I even tried with a pair of girls when I was younger but it's not the same. For me to be with a girl doesn't work, I prefer men. David is very handsome by the way." She blushed a bit saying that.

"Better than handsome, he's a good man. There's not much men like him in any race." Ivy nodded. "Your mom and Claire? You don't have to answer, it's too personal." Ivy shook her head.

"No. I always knew Claire loved her more than as a friend. And Mom, well, she was always jealous as hell when Claire was with someone. But they never were a couple. Both wanted to be dough. But they stopped for me. At least Claire did. Only once I heard them talk about that, when mom was already too sick. Claire took care of her the entire year she agonized. I just burst in tears when I was close to her. Claire gave her and me all the support we needed. Mom fell in love with her. It took years after I was born. But she didn't tell her until she was dying. Claire told her she always loved her too but she thought mom was too good for her. If Claire only had told her once, mom would have been hers. The thing is Claire doesn't love herself enough and she doesn't value herself in her gold price, she always says she deserves what she has regarding women. That is not truth; Claire is the best woman I know. " Renata sighed "They could be happy at least some years, but that didn't happen." She was sad. "And this one is the worst of Claire's lovers so far. I just can not see the slightest concern in her for Claire. I guess she is very good in bed. She doesn't show even affection to her, she only bosses Claire around and most of the time Claire let her have her way. In fact the first time I ever saw Claire put her in her place was in your kitchen. Susannah was worried, that night and the next morning she behaved differently, a little bit caring, trying for Claire to forgive her. For the first time she didn't get away with what she wanted." Renata frowned and smile afterwards "I only hope Claire dump her soon. Even if the bitch sues her, I know the money is all she cares for." She shook her head. "I really like you, guys. And Claire likes you both, I can tell. I hope this is not goodbye, perhaps we can be friends." She said it tentatively.

"Of course!" I smiled to her. "If you want to talk just drop by at home. We might have David for dinner any night." I offered and she blushed. Ivy giggled a bit.

"Serena would be ok with that?" Renata asked unease all the sudden.

"Why do you think she could…do you think she is after David?" I asked startled. I was so distracted by my own romance with Ivy that I hadn't had paying much attention to the other people in my life since I woke up only few days ago.

"No, she is after your place in the pack. She wants to be alpha bitch. But she likes you. She is acting half of the time like alpha. You're not a were so you might haven't noticed yet. But tradition is Alphas are matched. And you are in a serious relationship with a woman that is not a were either." She explained to me. I blinked twice. Well, certainly Serena wasn't eager to wear my marks, and she acted very bitchy in the meeting.

"Well, I just have been thinking about that. It's not a surprise. I was out of circulation for a while. And I don't care for the position. I don't like the challenges, you can believe me." I laughed. "But I didn't think Serena would like the job. David is a special guy. Maybe he is having a hard time. Well I will talk to them." I shrugged my shoulders. "But the offer still stands whenever you feel like it you drop by home or call me."

"Thanks, Rachel."

"See you, Rena." I kissed her cheek.

When we returned to the church, the offensive odor I sniffed the night the vamps had dinner with us was stronger. And it came from the most unthinkable source. Dorothy Claymor was standing in our doorway waiting for Ivy. She was wearing a nice short dress and high heels. The blonde vamp still looked as a supermodel; I didn't like her, I had never liked her. Knowing she was the first woman Ivy loved was a punch to my ego. She was so beautiful that I couldn't compete with her in any physical aspect. Besides she was an heir too, she was raised and educated to be a leader, to be the best in everything always. Truth were I was jealous as hell since the very first time I saw Ivy hugging her and the happiness of my vamp with only laying eyes on the blonde leech. And now she stank awfully at least to my nose.

Ivy told me that could happen. That other vamps scents could be repellent to me now that I was bound to her. But I didn't think that could be so literal. Skimmer shrugged her nose as soon as she spotted me. Maybe the repellent thing worked both ways and at least I was making her feel as uncomfortable as she made me feel. Her blue eyes got black and the hatred on them made me frown. The revolting scent of her only could mean she already had been on the church before. I guessed she wanted to talk to Ivy and she went away when she saw Rynn coming.

Skimmer had killed a Master Vamp and they, none of them would forget it; she was safer in jail. If she was out then was fair to assume she had found backing up from another master Vamp. And that could be disastrous for us in the case that master were against Rynn Cormel.

"Skimmer!" Ivy looked at her startled. She had no idea her ex was free.

"It seemed my information was wrong. I had been told your witch was a vegetable on a hospital bed." She said in a despiteful tone. Ivy didn't like it.

"Who's your master now, Skimmer?" she asked.

"What? Do you want to talk in the street?" the voice of the blonde vamp was loaded with poison. Ivy opened the door and made a hand gesture to invite her in. Skimmer walked in with her vamp grace and entered before us. Jenks looked at me. Jhan was already gone. I nodded and the pixie went to the garden. I tapped the line just in case before entered the church after Ivy. Skimmer was already on the couch in the living room and Ivy was staring at her standing from a little distance.

"I really don't know what is wrong with you, Ivy." She said and her eyes stared a moment on me. "What can you see on that?" her voice couldn't be more loaded with scorn. She hated me. I couldn't blame her for that. Dorothy left her life in an important camarilla to be with Ivy and Ivy left her behind because she loved me. "She doesn't want you at all, she tried to defang you, and she doesn't even…"she trailed off when she saw the marks on my wrist. "Ah you bit her on the wrist." She said with a slightly malignant glare in her eyes. She started to throw pheromones to the air and I almost gagged. The scent was so revolting my stomach almost outburst the splendid brunch we just had in Claire Britt's home. The petit blonde vampire frowned offended. "You made her your shadow!" she suddenly realized and then a mean smile came to her lips "Good for you, Ivy! It's the first step in the right direction!" she stated with a bright of hope on the blue eyes.

Ivy's frown was still upon her face. However, she still was silently studying her ex.

"Who's backing you up, Skimmer?" she asked again. "I know for a fact Natalie is not. And the quarrels are on an algid point; you are not safe if you don't have a master endorsing and protecting you." Ivy's voice was steady and calm.

"DeLavine sent someone to talk with me. He is receiving me in his camarilla. And he is willing to have you as well. And your chewing toy if you want." She made a dismissal gesture with her hand towards me.

Ivy sighed tiredly and looked at me, apologetic.

"Thanks, Skimmer. But I'm staying where I'm. You better go to Chicago as soon as possible, and stay out of trouble. I hope things will be good for you." She said clearly.

Of course the petit blonde didn't like the answer.

"Please, Ivy, you can not be serious. Now she is your shadow; how much she can live? You know better than me your bloodlust. Do you think she is going to last even one year? She can not recover. Be realistic, Ivy!" she demanded "I'm a vamp. I can offer you the same pleasure you can give me. I can bite you as well and you know you can not be happy without true sharing. She can not share blood, your blood." She said with a sensuous tone, suddenly she moved at vamp speed, but I was trying to control the revulsion her pheromones were causing me. And Ivy was too startled to stop her. The exclamation of the petit vamp was chocking when she wrapped herself on Ivy's body with the intention of seducing her in front of me like she tried to do in jail. "What the hell?"

She felt the belly and her hands tore the blouse and the coat over Ivy's middle. Her eyes from black changed to astonished blue wide open. "Oh my God! You are pregnant!" it was an accusation. Dorothy Claymor backpedaled with the face filled of disgust. Ivy turned her back at her trying to fix the blouse and the jacket to cover her exposed skin and body. "How could you? You hypocritical bitch!" she accused in a shout. "You always said you didn't want have children to pass the freaking virus!"

"Why don't you scream a little louder? I think maybe someone in Argentina couldn't hear you." I gave a step forward to cover Ivy's back. "So you can't use bloodlust to tempt her now, Dorothy." I said quietly with a frown. "Ivy is fulfilling her duty to give an heir to her line. In some point of your life that will be required from you as well. It's nothing to be ashamed of." I pointed out with normal voice. "She almost died almost seven months ago. Tamwood line would be gone by now if that would had happened. And as she told you the situation between camarillas is in a rapture point. Anytime could be another attack. We maintain the secrecy for the sake of the baby. I believe that is reason enough, to care for an innocent even before birth." I said with a frown. This wasn't one of the issues we can let go so I lied._ She doesn't have to know they are twins. Or anything else._

The eyes of the blonde filled with contempt. She stared at Ivy, ignoring me.

"You are a liar and a disgusting bitch, Tamwood. Who's the father?" she demanded, I wasn't sure if she was jealous or simply the belly of Ivy had freaked her out.

"Why do you want to know?" Ivy asked her coldly, the clothes were ruined and she couldn't cover herself properly.

"Is she sharing you with him?" Skimmer still was treating me as a pest.

"There will be no father it would be only Rachel and me." Ivy was covering herself with the arms and the rags her upper clothes were now. She decided that was enough so she turned to face her again. She wasn't pleased a bit.

"Now I know why you made her your shadow. No way for anyone could possibly want to be with you." The black eyes went to lock on the soft curve her abdomen made now, and they showed rejection, there was a revulsion grimace on her cute features. The belly bottom on Ivy's belly was a bit spread by now as the skin was stretching with the growing babies.

"Really, Claymor, Are you that shallow? If that's the case no wonder why she picked me over you. Ivy is beautiful. She now looks better than never before. She is a marvel on two feet. You wish you can look as good as her in the same situation but being a semi-midget, you might probably look like a balloon." I mocked her and her eyes went blacker, she pulled an aura on me. And I laughed. She frowned. "That is not working since I woke up at the hospital, Claymor. Apparently some of my brain is still asleep." I shrugged my shoulders in good mood. "And for your information. I'm not Ivy's Shadow. I'm her Scion. It's approved by her master." I smiled to my ebony haired partner. We haven't had this particular chat since I awakened but if I fell in coma, it was for saving her soul. And that fact turned me into her Scion automatically. Ivy sunk into my eyes a spare second grateful. The reaction of Skimmer was shocking to me, but not to her. Probably Ivy expected that reaction from me too. Maybe that's why she was so insecure the first night. Most probably, it was a vamp thing. They were so used to be perfectly attractive than any slight variation was unacceptable and disgusting. I hugged Ivy, passing an arm behind her back. _I love you, Ivy. Don't listen to this scorned bitch._

"You are so ridiculous, Ivy! You are a joke, a shame for all vampire kind!" she insulted her. I could feel the stiffen muscles in Ivy's back. She was tense and displeased. Her lips were forming a thin line and her jaws were clenched forcefully. Skimmer huffed in disapproval. "I didn't want to believe what they told me. I thought it was a rumor only to discredit Tamwood line. But now I know it's the true." The blonde said with venom. Ivy stiffened a little more. "I was told you almost die, someone attacked the household of your mother. And then you survived only for an unknown vamp fucked you and knocked you up." Skimmer was cold and looking for a soft spot to attack at. "No one knows who was it, but you deserved that, Ivy. Must be intended like an insult, surely was a nobody; meant to lower the high blood of Tamwood line. No high blood vamp would want you. I was stupid enough to give you a chance. I came here to offer you coming with me to Chicago. I'm an imbecile!" she shouted to herself in outrage.

This was not good. The story of what they believed had happened until I awakened from the coma was out, it was street word. The camarilla had a mole. And if that version was out, surely Tamwoods were the joke of the moment over many camarillas. I understood the blush in Ivy.

"Forget it! Of course you are not worthy of anything!" Skimmer clenched her jaws. "You made your own bed, Ivy. This is your funeral! Rynn Cormel will understand he is wrong sooner than later, and then, he will toss you my way and you will be nothing more than my little chewing toy; you have fallen so low, there is no more use for you." She stated with evident hatred, no, it was something else. Ivy didn't say a word. She loved once to this woman. This was a treacherous blow. She was hurt. They both were hurt.

How the things changed so suddenly. I didn't find amusing anymore to Dorothy Claymor. She was deliberately hurting the woman I adored. However, behind the rudeness and the bitterness of Skimmer, she was hurting too. She was disappointed and she covered it with anger. She came hoping to get Ivy, to recover her. And she didn't deal well with rejection.

I sighed with sadness. Ivy blinked and stared at me, as the blonde vamp did. I took two steps behind my ebony haired vamp, still staring at both of them one at the time. Now I could see right trough them. Skimmer was a scorned little bitch. No wonder Ivy preferred me. The short vamp was a child doing a tantrum, she wasn't mature enough to face the rejection, she was injured inside; and instead looking for help, she was looking for hurting the person whom hurt her in the first place. But that wasn't even Ivy. That was her old master. An immensurable sadness and pain poked into my chest.

"Rachel?" Ivy asked perplexed. "What's wrong, dear heart?" she asked me when she saw my tears. I shook my head side to side.

"I'm sorry, love. I just, well I understand. I was a child until a very short while ago. You know that for a fact, you were so patient with me. I don't know how you could put up with my stupidity and my childish stubbornness. You are a saint. Truly you are a saint." I sighed wiping the tears off my face. She was staring at me in surprise "And I know you still care for her, even if you are mad at her right now. I just, I saw myself on her; surely, I wasn't that bitchy. Not in purpose at least. Now I understand why. You are splendid! You are the best, you, on your own managed to lift yourself above the ordeal you passed. You grew up, you are magnificent! No wonder she wants you so badly. But she never passed a teen crush. She needs you because she is still a child looking for someone to make her feel better. Natalie was her goddess, until another girl robbed her attention. You, in the other hand, you never gave yourself entirely to Piscary, you were always the owner of yourself. You were the closest thing to a master she could find. Even when you fell in her little traps and her lust. You never were hers either. Not the core of you. The moment she knew no longer could trap you, she fell apart. Now she wants revenge for not being the center of your life. It's jealousy, it's envy, she has to grow up. That's all. It's so sad the way your masters twisted you." I swallowed the knot in my throat. "The difference is like the one between heaven and hell; she isn't strong enough to pick her own pieces, like you did. She blinded herself. And now, she thinks that destroy you could make her feel better." I sobbed and turned my back to them "Sorry, don't mind me, Ivy. I'm fine. I just feel so sorry for her." I sighed again.

"That's just what I…" she shouted very insulted. "You are a stupid shadow!" I felt the air moving and I turned again, only for seeing her trapped by Ivy, one hand clenched on the back her neck and the other on one twisting an arm of the blond vamp. Ivy forced her into a kneeling position very easily like if Skimmer weren't a high blood vamp as her.

"Rachel is not my shadow, Skimmer. She is…" Ivy shut up, angry.

"Your Scion?" the mockery in her stressed voice made me blink.

"If the main task for a Scion is to take care of the soul of its master. Then I am, Dorothy. Because I would die before letting her soul suffer any damage. I love her more than life itself, Ivy is thinking straighter than most of you. I have a lifespan longer than living vamps. I can maintain her mind sane for much longer than any other of any other race including vamp kind. But the main point is I was a stupid child like you once and she made a woman of me. I hope you can find someone who loves you the way everybody deserves to be loved and she or he can teach you what love is about. Because it is not blood, or sex, or lust, Skimmer. That doesn't even scratch the surface of true love." I said and the main door opened. Two living vamps entered in a rush. They blinked when they saw Ivy containing so easily to the intruder.

"Mr. Cormel wants a word with you, Miss Claymor." one of them informed coldly. Ivy released the blonde petit vamp and she regained her feet with clenched jaws and fists. Ivy hugged me tightly and kissed my temple. Skimmer didn't say another word she left with the two vamps. Ivy only nodded at them before they left.

"Are you alright, dear heart?" she asked me quietly, hugging me hesitantly.

"I'm so proud of you! So ashamed I haven't seen completely before the amazing woman you are, my beloved." I wrapped my arms around her "I just love you so much more now!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, it's time for the in-laws, at least for Ivy. This chapter perhaps generates more questions regarding what had happened to Rachel, also contains some answers. I hope you like it and forgive me for some of the choices I have done in order to make this fic a little logic. This story is still very far from ending. Just be patient with me for a while. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 8

I had been busy making amulets and charms. Matalina, Jenks and the kids were splendidly generous helping me harvest of the garden all the ingredients and preparing them too. I had occupied most of the counter with the things. We ordered food from a place. Ivy didn't want me to be distracted. However, for the dinner, I have planned something quick and I was cooking food too. Mom had called to tell me they were arriving tonight.

I made a circle for the good stuff. After some hours, I still was grinning about the little play Ivy made on me. She insisted on being inside the circle with me. She said if there were an attack to the church, she and our babies would be safer in the circle with me. Although, since still was daytime that could not happen. I didn't mind; I loved to be close to her as we never have been before. Even dough she was driving me a little mad with her OCD habits, she just was putting some order in every thing I was discarding once I used it; and she was labeling everything done, displaying the amulets in order on a extremely clean part of the counter; in her own way. But, what the Turn! Why deny her that little pleasure? She could not go out on her state, because the quarrels amongst vamps were still going on. The little visit from Skimmer was a clear indication. And that didn't go too well. Skimmer already knew she was pregnant. Now everybody would know about it. We could not disregard the stupidity on the thinking she was vulnerable because of her pregnancy; after all, Ivy had a past too. Thankfully, she was recovering her strength very quickly, and the way she had restrained Skimmer as easily as she did the day before was a proof of that.

It was an afternoon of confidences after Skimmer left the building. I knew then Ivy only had slept very few hours when exhaustion overcame her mind and she could not stay awake anymore. My sweet vamp told me she didn't want to wake up and finding it was a dream, and I wouldn't be in her bed with her. That broke my heart and I comforted her, the best I could. We cried together and I just wanted to please her in every way I possibly could. She bit me again when I asked her to do it after I made love to her. And we fell asleep enjoying the playful and tender communication with our babies. I had fresh fang marks on my neck. She smiled a goofy grin every time she laid eyes upon them. There were her marks, finally I was hers.

Suddenly a familiar feeling grew inside me but I did not put any attention until a little while later I heard the doorbell. Jenks flew to open it. He was with Jhan in the kitchen, testing him with Ivy's laptop. I heard the voice of my mother talking to the pixie as they approached to the kitchen and Jenks was trying to calm her down. Yes, she demanded to see her baby. _That's me. I will always be her baby; like mine will be to me even when they were adults._ I smiled, knowing somehow I had sensed mom since she was still far away from the church. Ivy seemed a little uncomfortable at that moment. My family still didn't know about us. For Ivy this family reunion would be yet another test to our relationship. _Don't worry, my sweet vamp, I will not flunk it._ I closed my eyes when I felt my second sight turning entirely green. I did not want to scare mom even more, it was enough for her the fact I had spent in a coma the last six months.

I was busy with the most important piece of the protections I was doing. This would be my masterpiece so far, and I concentrated the curses I took from Al that were still inside me to twist them into another kind of magic. Luckily, my body kept the glowing marks of my forearm hidden from my family. I put the rings inside the potion and made my new protection and binding spell. I had to focus on my love and my desire to protect and to be with Ivy for the rest of my life. I was whispering very quietly the weird gibberish I didn't know where was coming from. Those weird words just felt right even my conscious mind didn't grasp why, nor where they came from, or what they meant, or anything else.

I heard far away the surprised gasp of a female voice. Nevertheless, I didn't pay any attention, this was too important to allow any distraction. I felt Ivy growing unease, her aura swirling a bit, perhaps I hadn't Vampiric senses, but my enhanced second sight let me know some information about the feelings of the people around me. I could sense the joy and the surprise on my mother, watching me spelling as if I hadn't spent half year on a hospital bed.

"How much time it's going to take you completing the spells, Rache?" Ivy asked me quietly. She was seeing at my family. She could control herself very well. Her face gave away nothing about the turmoil she was feeling inside right now. She didn't know how my mother would react when I had informed her about the new nature of our relationship. She feared her rejection, because that would hurt me. She was expecting already an angry outburst from my brother. However, the one she feared all this time had been my mother's reaction towards me, not towards her, she was a vamp, she was used to be rejected for all the others races.

"Not much. I'm almost done." I said absentminded, still focused on the charms I was making. I had to wait a few minutes to let the potion cooling. I started to spindle ley line energy in my chi and inside my body as well. _Yes! In my body as well; so the marks are also like a storage room. This could be useful. Demons won't expect that much energy in case I get far from a line._ "Please, Ivy, take the chair, this is for us." I took the rings from the warm potion with my marked hand. As I heard the kitchen door open. My second sight let me know who entered the kitchen. I saw Erica getting inside the kitchen even with my eyes closed and the freaking bad odor I related to Skimmer came in carried by the air the kitchen suckled in with the little vacuum caused by the shutting of the door. The young vamp seemed somehow impressed.

"Rica, don't come any closer! The bubble burns and hurts, don't touch it!" Ivy ordered quietly.

"Wow!" the young vamp blinked staring at us. "Why your hair is moving, V?" she asked.

"It's the air of ever after, Rica. We will smell like burnt amber too. Rachel didn't want any interference while she was cooking her spells." My lover explained.

"And you are with her in ever after?" Erica opened her eyes wide.

"Yes, please be quiet a bit, Rachel just said she's almost done." My lover asked her still talking in murmurs that was enough for any vamp or pixie.

"Now I can see why you like her that much, V… she looks very different in there. She is definitely your type." Erica said in an appreciative tone.

"Rica!" Ivy warned her with her tone, elevating one octave her grey silk voice.

"Oh, V. It's ok, I will shut my trap. Jesus, V! Do you think I can not have my mouth closed for a minute?" the kid began to complain. I opened my eyes and gazed directly at her, she gasped impressed. "I'm cool, I shut up, I shut up!" she mumbled. My family was at my back, they didn't see my eyes, but I could appreciate them in the reflex of the window. They were entirely green, like if the iris had expanded, occupying all the space where the white part of the eyeball must be. And my pupils were vertical. They were very closely like cat eyes. My family was quiet at my back, waiting for me to finish. They were witches, they knew better. Cynthia wasn't tall. And she was very impressed; as seemed Robbie, who was holding her by the shoulders. Luckily, none of them was watching the reflex on the window. Donald was besides my mother holding her hand.

Seeing me spelling like this must be proof enough of my health. I closed my eyes again and walked towards where Ivy was about to seat on the chair I let inside the circle. My vamp saw at me attentively. Once she sat I extended my hand.

"Give me your hand, Ivy." I asked quietly, more for disguising the growling voice I couldn't help when my eyes were like this, than because I wanted to be secretive. She offered at me her left hand without hesitation. I slid the ring on her right finger, she took the matching ring from my hand and I let her to dress my own finger with it. We saw a moment into each other eyes, while I intertwined my fingers with hers. This was our wedding ceremony after all. She blushed a bit. I couldn't but I smiled and nodded lightly. "This could tingle a bit, is that alright?" I asked softly

"Ok." She nodded and sat straight to let me finish the binding. I muttered the rest of the spell. Closing my eyes again. Holding her hand with mine, as I kneeled in front of her; concealing the glowing of my marks between our bodies. The ley line energy ran through me towards the rings and towards her arm, canalized by the rings. She tensed and she could not avoid letting out a gasp of surprise and pain whilst she was contemplating at my otherwise calmed face. When I opened my eyes again, they were normal. "Tingle, Rache? I felt like an electrocution." She said rubbing her stiffen arm. I rubbed her arm too with both my hands still on my knees in front of her.

"Sorry, love. It's strong stuff." I apologized with a tiny smile and a little blushing.

"But you didn't flinch a bit." She appreciated staring at me, with new curiosity on her brown eyes.

"I'm used to it, Ivy. That is what every witch feels when we work with ley line energy. Are you better?"

"I'm seriously thinking that is much more on you than I suspected until now, little witch." She smiled "If you didn't flinch on this one. How is when you actually felt it, or is painful for you like the time at the tunnels?" she was suddenly concerned.

"You don't want to know, honey." I hugged her with a little laughter "Don't think too much on that, or you might repent on us. And I'm not planning in let you go anywhere." I warned her before kiss her on the lips. She kissed me back and her body relaxed a lot in my embrace. So, the presence of my family had affected her. It was a fair kiss, not long, but not so chaste either. "It's done now. I'm dropping the circle, please, Erica; don't come until I said so because I need a moment to cut the salt and then to equalize the energy before I can drop it ok?" I explained to her.

"Ok." She nodded looking at us expectant.

I used one foot to cut the salt line and then went back to Ivy; she was standing by the chair. I didn't acknowledge yet my family. Ivy passed an arm under my armpits when I faked the cut. I had overloaded with energy, but I felt great. This little faked dizziness was for the benefit of my family; of course, I saw the eyes of my sister in law when she realized the size of my circle, and even the impressed expression upon Robbie's features. Mom was proud; as always. I leaned my body on hers. By now only on her profile you could notice the pregnancy, because she chose another baggy sweater to ware.

"Too much salt?" she asked me, supporting my weight without effort. She still remembered the first time I spelled before her. I smirked nodding.

"Too much salt." I kissed her lips again, only a slight brush. "Hi, mom!" I turned to go towards her; I hugged her with all my strength and lift her from the floor. She hugged me back with a surprised exclamation. As I spun on my heels doing a complete turn, only for checking the expression on Ivy's face. She wasn't sure if I knew my family was there when I kissed her. _Now you know I'm serious, Tamwood!_ I winked an eye on her and kissed my mother cheeks.

"Rachel, you are so full of life!" she placed gently a hand in every side of my head to take a good look at me the moment I let her on the floor again.

"I told you, mom." I finally kissed her forehead.

"May I come closer now?" Erica asked.

"Yes, Rica. It's over now" Ivy smiled to her. The young sister hugged my partner and took a glance on my family quizzical, but smiling.

"Mom, she is Erica Randall, she is Ivy's little sister. Remember her?" I introduced them. "You knew her the solstice party I think, Don."

"Ouch! Takata is here!" the little vamp at last noticed him.

"He is my mom's boyfriend, Erica." I teased them in good mood.

"Oh my God! Way to go, Ms. Morgan!" the teen vamp said excited and amazed. After all, Donald was a rock star! Moreover, thousands of teens and not so young people adored him, he could have any woman he could want, but he settled with my mom.

"We went to College together, Erica." Mom let her know a little blushed. Whilst I was laughing.

"How can you do a circle that size?" asked Robbie still impressed.

"She does it all the time. Since the first time she cooked spells in this kitchen." Ivy pointed in a polite tone. "Hello, Robbie." My brother barely nodded with a little frown. He was staring at the marks of fangs on my neck. I could tell he didn't like it.

"What is going on here, Rache?" he asked me with attitude, the wrong attitude.

"Lots of things, Robbie. Ivy and me, we are together now. It took me 6 months sleeping over it, but." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Rache!" Ivy protested. I just laughed again.

"Are you her shadow now?" my brother asked me, he was clearly bothered.

"No, Robbie. I'm her Scion." I said proudly. "And most importantly, I love her, and she loves me back. Please, brother, don't insult me, or her with your prejudices, Ivy has moral integrity and I wouldn't fell in love with her if she weren't the most entire and most honest person I know. She is not controlling me, much less forcing me to do nothing. She is incapable of those low manipulations. She is my partner in every extension of the word. My life partner. That is the last word I would say about that, Robbie. I hope you have enough common sense to understand that's the way I'm going to live starting now and don't insult a high blood vamp in her own house." I warned him. Although I did not raise my voice at any point of my explanation, I just let all of them to know about my decision calmly and firmly.

"Just one person has achieved that without dying, and I think she ended up at the hospital." Erica said to release the tension.

"Who?" asked Cynthia interested.

"Rachel! She went to Piscary's house to insult him and set straight one or two things! By herself! And she nailed him even dough she ended up in the hospital." The young vamp said like if she was there to see.

"Did you have a showdown with a master vamp alone?" the blonde wife of my brother looked at me with those big blue eyes.

"Rachel has too much courage for her own good." Ivy sighed "I'm Ivy Tamwood." She extended a hand towards the Californian girl.

"Cynthia Morgan, nice to meet you, Ivy!" she smiled cool and trusting, taking my lover's hand between both of hers without hesitation. "I've heard a lot about you, Rachel." She turned to me after that, she was very nice indeed. She wore jeans, and a tank top with one of my brother's sweaters, folded at the sleeves, it was too big for her.

"I figured it. I hope not too much of bad things; but." I shrugged my shoulders, offering the hand and then her already big eyes went wide open again.

"Oh my God!" she took my hand and saw attentively the marks. "Where did you get these? They are so real! Even the colors are right!" she commented.

"Do you know what those are?" Ivy asked interested immediately.

"They are copies of elemental marks. I thought almost no one knew about the legends." She answered. "But the colors are right. Someone has to know." She formed a pensive expression on her face all the sudden.

"These aren't copies." Ivy said seriously.

"Pardon me?" Cynthia frowned.

"The spell Rachel did, that one that let her in coma. Those marks appeared the day she woke up. What they mean?" Ivy asked.

Cynthia took a deep breathe. She stared at us. Until she convinced herself we weren't kidding.

"My grandfather and all of his line have studied legends for centuries. This one obsessed him. It supposed to happen every once in a while. When a chosen one appeared. Those marks are like a sign." She explained "What about the demon marks you have?" she asked.

"They're gone." I shrugged my shoulders again and took a strayed hair to put it behind my ear, the amazing big blue eyes went bigger again, she gasped and got very close to my neck to see the sides and the back of it.

"Oh my God!" she repeated and her hands pulled the collar of my shirt "They are for real!" she was almost climbing on me to see better at my back.

"Honey!" Robbie held her by the waist getting her away from me, uncomfortable.

"Robbie, you don't understand!" she protested, her legs kicking the air, because my brother was carrying her.

A draft in my back nerves made me tap the line and murmur a spell. Suddenly the unpleasant smell came to the front of my mind. Skimmer was probably near and now she worked for a rival camarilla. Whatever, I protected this conversation from strangers' ears.

"What is for understanding, honey? My sister got some tattoos, and that is it."

"What the marks stand for, Cynthia?" Ivy insisted. "What they mean? Why a demon was scared when it saw them?"

"My God! It's not a legend! This is for real! Just like grandpa always said!" she looked at me in wonder. "You are a demon hunter!" she exclaimed enthusiastic and excited. I felt truly dizzy for a moment those were big words. Ivy felt my stress and hugged my by the waist with one arm. "Off course, no wonder your circle is that big and you didn't flinch when a living vamp felt pain with the current of ley line power; the chosen ones are very powerful witches!" she said and her eyes brightened even more. "A demon attacked at you?" she asked very interested and excited.

"Rache kicked his ass right back to ever after, just after make him withdraw the demon marks on her." Jenks said proudly. "And this circle is nothing. Rache lifted alone the circle of Square plaza to defend herself from a demon in ever after."

"What?" Robbie was almost scared now.

"That's the way I got my second demon mark, Robbie. A witch dealing with a demon took me to ever after to deliver me as payment for something. Let's say the things went wrong for him and he was the one the demon took as familiar." I said seriously "But I was left there, without any way of coming back, and the carrion eating demons were very close. I had to buy my trip back this side of the lines from another demon, before they ate me." I took Ivy's hand on mine, she hugged me from the shoulders. "This makes easier what I have to tell you, Cynthia. I'm afraid that demons attack to my family and my friends. That's why I made mom to bring you with her. And that's why I was cooking spells like crazy." I pointed to the counter with my free hand. "I made several amulets for everyone, and I'm asking you to use them all the time."

"But off course! You are right on that! What did you plan?" the enthusiasm of Cynthia didn't go down. She went to see the groups of charms and amulets Ivy so neatly had displayed upon the counter.

"Well, first of all we have this one." I followed her and lift a little piece of redwood from a group. "It's a demon detector. It turns red when a demon approaches it. If you are aware of the amulet, you will have time to do a circle and protect yourselves, no demon can stay after sunrise. It won't be pretty, but you can survive. You always have to carry a chalk to do the circle." I offered the amulet to her. She took it, every one had a little chain to be attached to something. She put it on the golden necklace hanging from her neck.

"Is it activated?" she asked.

"No, but the blood from any witch or warlock would activate them."

"Yours would make it more effective." Cynthia opined confident "You made them. And making these is an unrepeatable art, an arcane knowledge only the chosen ones possess, and they can not divulge, even if they want to." She recited like if that was a lesson well learned. I blinked._ So, that's why the spells and recipes kept popping around my head like now they are here, now they're gone? _"That's what my grandpa said to me when he was teaching me."

"Well, in that case." I took my silver knife. There were a lot for a needle. I cut my middle finger and started to pour the three drops of blood on every disc of redwood lying on the counter. Bis entered through the cat door.

"Rachel!" the little gargoyle said in a hurry.

"Hi, Bis. Do we have troubles at the door?" I smiled to him still activating the amulets.

"There's a suspicious man in the curve." He informed us in general.

"I'm on it!" Jenks darted out real fast. At the same time the timer on the oven sounded.

"I have to take out the butterscotch pies from the oven, honey." I turned to see Ivy.

"I'll do it, sweetheart." My mother said going over there, she was a bit baffled, but for now she was digesting the news of my new status, she noticed right away the matching wedding rings Ivy and me just started to ware. She knew this was real and serious.

"That is David's car." Ivy said listening attentively towards the sanctuary.

"And I have a dirty kitchen in here!" I felt the pressure of time. "Are those all?"

"You're just missing one." Cynthia held between her index and thumb fingers the one already on her neck. I smiled to her for activating her amulet with the three required drops of my blood. "Thank you" she said with a contagious smile and I smiled to her. Robbie was right on that his girl was very likable. Good for me.

"Honey." I approached to Ivy offering my hand. "A little saliva for quick healing?" I asked her. She licked my finger and lapped upon the little wound. "Thanks, babe."

"My pleasure, dear." She smiled at me "We have to talk to Cynthia, Rache." She said a little bossy.

"And we will, love. Take them to the living room I have to clean the kitchen before all our friends arrive." I said hasting to begin the cleaning process.

"Non sense, we can help you." Cynthia said as I was putting the last spell pot used on the container of salt water.

Mom put on the window the three butterscotch pies. Ivy liked them and I wanted her to gain weight quickly, so, I made more. I went to check on the food pots and took out the fridge the tray all prepared with the Hawaiian ham to put it in the oven too. Mom came to help me with the salad and I went to wash all the used props, Robbie joined me, drying them.

Ivy passed the broom on the floor quickly to gather the salt I used making the circle and I passed the mop just in time.

David came in with Glenn; they were working on the case of fraud we gave them. The suspicious man on the curve was Captain Eden, whom walked inside with Keasley. Quen brought Ceri and the little boy they had. The baby was adorable. Although they didn't stay long, they had a gala at the opera or something like that. Trent surely had all to do with it. He didn't want me even alive. I saw Ceri's face when she gazed the marks on my hand. I knew right then she had some information we didn't at this point. I promised myself to talk to her alone. I had to ask her to keep secret this fact from the boss of her man.

"So it's true, you're back amongst the living, Morgan" Captain Eden hugged me.

"Looks like you have a big party here, gals." Glenn said in good mood.

I began to give them all the amulets the moment Ceri said they have to leave. One demon detector, one lethal magic detector, because demons could use black witches to do the dirty murdering job; and one to stop demon magic; this one only would worked once, but it would buy time for doing a protection circle. Quen was impressed. I could tell Ceri not to let Al got near of her or her son; the things weren't the same as before now. He would hurt her for sure.

"And Keasley, I did these for you. It's a new recipe. Tell me if they work well and I will give the recipe to you. If not, I will work on them some more." I offered him another 4 amulets. I activated one before giving it to him. The release in his face was evident for everybody the moment the redwood touched the skin of the big calloused hand he held out in front for receiving the extra amulets.

"Really, Rachel, I don't want to know what you use them for!" he sighed, already attaching the active amulet to the chain on his neck, he put it inside his shirt.

"I was experimenting, Keasley, sometimes I can not even move." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I believe you, I have seen you once or twice." The old witch laughed "They are very good!"

"Only the best for my friends, Keas." I laughed with him.

"What are those?" asked Glenn curious.

"Pain amulets, Keasley's arthritis is very bad." Ivy told him "And yes, you can walk with a broken leg using one of those with the new Rache's recipe. They are like morphine." She smiled in good mood.

"How do you know?" our FBI Captain asked now.

"She used a pair of them on me when I was stabbed almost 7 months ago, all the pain just vanished."

"I'll take the recipe just as it is, Rachel." The old witch said.

"Ok, I have a copy right here." I opened a cooking book and took one of the two pages folded in there. "I hope you can read my awful calligraphy."

David said good-bye and Glenn went along with him. We finally were alone with Erica and my family at last. We needed to have a table chat after dinner.

"More coffee, Don?" I offered when I saw his empty cup as I returned from accompanying out Keasley and Captain Eden.

"Yes, thank you, Rachel." He smiled at me.

"Your cooking is improving, sweetie. The butterscotch pie is delicious." Mom commented, she was eating her second slice, Ivy was repeating the pie too, as her young sister. Erica was getting fond to my food. I poured coffee in everybody's cups.

"It's still no match for yours, mom." I hugged her neck and kissed her temple when I returned to the table. "Now we can talk." I said. "I know you are probably a little disappointed on me, mom." I faced her calmly, I didn't want make any scenes, Ivy didn't need that.

"I always wanted grandkids, Rachel. That is the only but I see with your choice. I know Ivy is a good person. And I know she is madly in love with you since I met her. And I could see you love her as well. I want you to be happy, you are my baby." She sighed; she was disappointed, no doubt. But she wasn't second guessing me.

"Mom, the things they did to me, when I was a child to save my life. Well, they changed me, something inside me. I can not have babies, not on my own." I said with a serious tone, quietly. I was looking right into her eyes. She frowned.

"They said…" She shook her head, shocked and in pain, moral pain.

"I'm sorry, mom. But that is the truth." My eyes didn't leave hers. And she knew I wasn't lying. "At least they saved my life." I shrugged my shoulders. Mom sighed sad and worried; this was a hard blow to her expectations.

"Maybe they can do something." She said aghast.

"Mom, fate did something." I smiled to her.

"What do you mean with that?" she asked.

"Mom, I was looking for a way to keep Ivy's soul with her. Trying to find something for that, I found a spell, an ancient spell in a ruined church at the country. It was hidden, I managed to translate it, and having it like insurance; in case Ivy needed it. Well, seven months ago, she wasn't only stabbed; she was staked in the heart. The spell was for granting a wish to a dying person…"I kept to us the things I thought my family wouldn't understand. But I told them the most important part.

"No way!" Robbie laughed.

"Way, Bro. Ivy is expecting twins and half of the genetic inheritance they have is mine. We're having babies." My hand went to cover hers, over the table. We smiled at each other. "The spell was so weird and ancient, so different to all the magic I have done before. When it was working by itself, it almost killed me. After that when I woke up; I did it because the babies awakened me; in some way, I have a connection with them. So, mom, you are having grandkids as you wanted. "I smiled at her too.

"Vamp babies." Robbie pointed.

"Well, I believe one is a vamp baby. But the other is a witch." I said shrugging my shoulders. I wasn't thinking when my mouth opened. However, that felt right. The babies were different one of the other in many ways.

"But, Rachel. That can not be." It was Ivy whom objected.

"Witches are immune to vamp virus, honey. The virus cannot infect her even inside your womb. This magic is too powerful, Ivy. I told you, magic can kindle with the very fabric of life. You asked for a baby that looked like me. At the other hand, I asked for a baby that was a combination of us both. And one of them is a witch. And the other is a vamp. You will see, love." I used my thumb to rub the back of her hand I was holding. "In about 2 months and a half."

"Pardon me?"

"One of the babies is going to born before the other, Ivy. One in about 9 and a half or 10 month pregnancy, the other at 13 month of pregnancy. The oldest of our daughters is going to be a witch, not a vamp. I don't think your mom will be too pleased. Since the tradition dictates, the first-born is the heir of the bloodline. Tamwood line can not be continued by a witch." I said pensive "I hope she won't take it like offense; it's biology, witches have a shorter pregnancy span."

"If that happens, I will eat my shoes." Robbie laughed again.

"I will have a very sharp knife for you to cut them, Robbie. Because that's what is going to happen. It's very clear. They are different; you have heard them, honey. One sounds like vamp and the other." I trailed off with a smart grin.

"She sounds like you." Ivy blinked slowly, like thinking seriously what I have said. "And she enjoys the food, and it's bigger, but not as strong like the little one who purrs." She blinked again, and then her brown eyes locked with mine startled. "My God!" she laughed all the sudden "Mom is going to freak out!" she had the most striking beautiful laughter I ever heard. I have never heard her laughing this relaxed and genuinely amused.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. After like four chapters without any action, it's time for a bit of excitement and one near to death experience for the witch and the vamp. This is still far from ending. Just be patient with me for a while. If I suck well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 9

My family took it with reservations. Mom was still a bit disappointed but she treated Ivy with respect and caring affection. After all, my vamp loved me as no man could do in my life. And she was pregnant. Even if the two babies were vamps, they still would be mine as well. Donald was happy with being a part of us even when I just treated him as friend. Monty Morgan always would be my father in my heart. Robbie was not happy with my choice, not because Ivy was a woman, but because she was a Vamp. I couldn't blame him; not after the long chain of rejections, I made to her in the past. I was scared of her plenty of time. Now, I kicked myself every time I remembered that. And Cynthia, what a revelation she was; she was caring, trusting, loving, charismatic, and she was open minded. She would make Robbie change his attitude towards Ivy for sure.

Ivy was still laughing every time she remembered my words. She simply found amusing the probability of giving birth to a witch, even if it was to imagine the face of her mother when she knew it. I went out from the bathroom in an oversized Takata old shirt. She lifted her eyes from the magazine she was reading and smiled at me. I went into the sheets and hugged her loosely. She tossed the magazine to the night table and hugged me as well.

"Hey, you." She kissed my neck just under my ear, her hands roaming over my back and sides in gentle continuous caresses. "Do you plan in sleeping early tonight, my little witch?" her teeth teased my earlobe.

"Sleeping is not on the top three of my priorities' list right now, my sexy vamp." I grabbed a fist of her heavy ebony locks and pull her away just enough to see into her eyes, while they changed from brown to black, I was arousing her badly. "I can not think in other activity but making you come and come, and come again." My voice was a slow urgent groan. The beautiful features in her oval face lit with a seduced expression staring at me as she almost mewed, totally startled by my forwardness and agresiveness; since I hadn't the confidence for being so daring at her already. But I had a deep desire emerging from the core of my subconscious right now. My mouth covered hers, demanding, my body shivered when my eyes turned green entirely and my marks, all of them glowed in the weak light of the night table planned for reading. "This is our first night like an official couple, Ivy." I straddled her, pinning her body against the mattress. "Tonight, you are mine completely!" my marked fingers brushed her jaw. "Tell me you are mine!" I asked in a harsh growl, demanding and pleading at the same time. My eyes locked with hers searching into the bottom of her soul fierce fully. I could feel the rising speed of her heart against my chest, and she started to produce pheromones without even noticing.

"I'm absolutely, irrevocably yours, Rachel!" she whispered in a passionate, truthfully tone from the bottom of her soul and heart. A heart that was speeding up its beat even more as she realized I have changed into that primal, savage being, pure instinct I was when Al came to claim me; with that grey silk voice that made me insanely craving all of her.

"And I'm totally yours forever, Ivy!" I moaned with all my being before kissing her again. The magic ran wild through me and through her. All boundaries broken, we were savages, and we were profoundly spiritual at the same time, she gave herself to me withdrawing nothing, and I did the same, we were one, in soul and body; the magic flowing in a perfect circuit binding us permanently. For moments, I was inside her body and she was inside mine; it was mind-blowing. I thought I died at least ten times and the same for her. We possessed each other like no others could in the world.

We cried quietly together at the end, when the magic died down on its own, we held each other and just let the tears to run freely, we felt so deeply moved. My sins were hers and her sins were mine, we shared everything; we accepted everything, and we were finally one inside. She would always have a part of me, as I would always hold a part of her inside our very minds and souls. We were exhausted, our bodies hurting with pleasurable pain, I had graces of her fangs all over my body and she was a map of scratches thanks to my nails and teeth too, I bit her all over, she really reached her highest peaks of passion when she felt the bites. We cuddled in silence for a while just enjoying the warmth of our bodies and feelings.

"Rachel?" her voice sounded still trembling.

"Yes, Ivy?" I moved slowly to catch her brightened gaze, gloriously brown and full of love. She had curled against me, her head resting on my chest.

"Did you do it on purpose, or it just happened?" she moved slowly to rest her head on the same pillow mine was, just one inch away from my face.

"It happened. I'm no planner, dearest." I reckoned in a whisper passing my arms behind her to hold her by the back and one thigh. She was partially on top of me. "But I'm glad it happened; I was afraid of changing on you; not anymore, I'm probably a little violent when I changed but I think I didn't hurt you, did I?" I worried at once. She could not avoid a small laughter amused even when a tear was running through her cheek. Of course, she was Ivy Tamwood, the strongest living vamp in all Cincinnati, and even beyond our town. I surely couldn't hurt her even if I tried to do it, at least not physically. That didn't offend me now. Surely, I had taken offense of something like that before the coma. However, now I wasn't afraid of my own limitations I just smiled at her, an apologetic goofy grin. After the laughter, Ivy sighed returning to her thoughts.

"No, it was marvelous, dear heart. I finally got over everything. You cleansed my soul, my body, my mind; you cast away all my demons." She muttered almost without sound, she felt so moved in her very heart. Her hands roamed on my skin, until she left one upon my shoulders, and the other by my waist, letting the long fingers ran without pattern over my skin.

"So did you with mine, my love." I caressed her thigh and her back with a content sigh. I felt some stress sneaking on her back, showing like a bad hunch, or a bad thought. I knew my vamp didn't like magic; much less when it was used on her. "Ivy?" my eyes locked with hers again.

"Yes, Rachel?" she nodded barely without missing anything on my eyes or face.

"I am all of this, I don't know how, but that savage part of me showing when I less expect, that part is my essence; my most basic essence. It is the very core of my subconscious emerging and taking control and that part will never lie, will never cheat, will never contain anything, that part only feels and its guided for my deepest feelings, all raw, no tamed by consciousness or bound to conventions. It's not educated and it shows only the very truth of my being and my feelings, Ivy. That part is also ruled by magic, every time it shows, magic beyond my conscious control gets unleashed." I sighed while my hands continued caressing her shoulder, and her thigh. "I'm sorry I can not control it, honey. But I love you so much!" I whispered apologetic and her all brown eyes watered a bit more, the tension washed away as her mind distilled my words. I kissed her cheeks wiping out the tears. She sighed and smiled again. We kissed each other softly, tenderly, for an entire minute or two. Her hands were possessively stroking my neck and my side.

"No, don't be sorry, you just did with magic, what I already did with blood, you bound us, Rachel, you are a witch right through your core, if I don't have to apologize for being a vampire, you don't have to apologize for being a witch, dear heart." She stated quietly but convinced, accepting all of me openly. My heart jumped with joy.

"I'm yours forever, Ivy." I whispered. She brushed her lips against mine once again.

"And I'm yours forever, Rache." We tightened our embrace.

The phone rang and we both moaned in disgust at the outside world intruding on our just acquired couple intimacy. She stretched an arm to grab the freaking thing.

"Yes?" she asked polite enough. "Ah, Alice, yes, we're up. Good morning." She blushed as if mom could see at us right now.

Well, mom is in town, and she is going to be a grandma, so we took a bath, reluctantly dressed up and we ate some cereal with coffee until they came for us. We were going shopping. This time Donald didn't have a limo but a big SUV that Robbie gladly drove.

"You didn't sleep a minute, did you?" Cynthia asked when we entered into Starbucks on the mall before anything else.

"Nope." I nodded with a grin. Jenks landed on my shoulder.

"And you didn't let anyone else to sleep in the immediacies either." He said quietly only for my ears and Ivy's, provoking heavy blushes in my big bad vamp and me. Erica came running, with a pair of vamps following her at close range.

"Hi!" she hugged everybody. "May I join you?"

"Sure, Erica." Cynthia smiled to her. We went to various places, we saw cradles, toys, baby clothes, and we passed a good time. Donald was in disguise, as me, in a different hair color. We were matched both brunettes. No doubt, we seemed to be father and daughter. I saw the longing on his blue eyes when an old woman complimented on our similarities. He was a good man. He tried to maintain mom sane as best as she let him. Don still loved her. I took his arm and led him apart of the group a bit. I knew Ivy, Erica and Jenks could hear us, but not my family. We saw the different baby baths in front of us.

"Don. I thought of you as a good friend, maybe even an uncle, dad will always be dad to me, and he died for me." I whispered. I saw the pain filling his eyes when he nodded, defeated.

"I know, Rachel." He muttered. I tightened my grabbing on his arm.

"But you are in time for being a grandpa if you want, Don. I know you love mom. I know she still loves you too. You are good for her and if you want, you can be a part of our family." I offered with my heart. I saw his blue eyes watering a bit. I didn't pull away when he hugged me tightly.

"Thank you, Rache!" He whispered against my ear. I squeezed him too and kissed his shaved cheek. Takata kissed my forehead grateful and hopeful.

"Ivy!" the surprised exclamation came from a voice I knew, I turned to see the girl approaching to Ivy. Renata Reynolds was beside my raven haired partner. She was holding a big box wrapped as a present.

"Hi, Rena." Ivy smiled at her.

"What a coincidence!" the were blushed when she saw the mobile in Ivy's hands. "I just bought it for you."

"Oh, thanks!" Ivy seemed surprised.

"I was thinking on going to your place later and say hi."

"Hi, Rena." I said from behind her, she blinked at my different look.

"Rachel!" she smiled at me when she saw my eyes when I let down my sunglasses a bit. She kissed my cheek as I did with her. "Shopping for the baby, eh? It's so sweet!" she saw the pink baby bath in the hands of Donald.

"He is Donald, a close friend. And this is mom, Alice Morgan." I brought her close too when she approached to know our friend. We went to take a bite in a close restaurant.

Claire Britt entered the place all of the sudden and her rotten girlfriend with her. They were dressed casually. Something was very wrong with the human. The blonde-haired gold-digger got all pale the moment she saw Renata and us at the table. The sundown just passed few minutes before.

"Hi, kiddo." The famous cook came closer and Renata stood up to hug her warmly.

"Claire! I thought you were going to the spa." The young surrogate daughter kissed her cheek and the cook kissed her back.

"And we will, Rena. Only the plane has a delay. Go figured how in the Turn a box of tomatoes can cause such a fuss!" she sighed. "Hey, you are here, sweetie!" She recognized Ivy.

"Hi, Claire." She smiled at her showing the points of her fangs to bother Susannah. "This is my little sister, Erica Randall." We also introduced them to my family. Mom was really impressed to know the famous cook, she adored her recipes. And I stole from her four of the Claire's books.

The chat began and Susannah was more and more anxious and uncomfortable with every passing minute.

"Claire, we have to go, the plane is going to leave without us!" she said desperately.

"Honey, the plane is not going to leave before midnight, you heard the nice man in the desk" the cook chuckled delighted. "And we are not driving 6 hours, that's final; I have to rest for the show tomorrow. We can go to the spa and spend the entire week after the show." She said patiently and caring.

"Look, Claire, I really, really want to go today. I prepared a special thing for you, and it's ruining right now!" the woman sounded like a teen doing a tantrum. She seemed too much desperate to go away for me to like it. She was continuing watching the clock and the darkest hunch just clenched my stomach.

"Did you go to a black witch, Susannah?" my voice went out as dark as my guts were feeling now, the sensation was overwhelming.

"No!" she almost shouted alarmed. Then the red glow in Renata's key chain on the table made all of us stared at it. She had kept the truth amulet I made for the meeting. She said it could help her in her work while it lasted and I gave it to her.

"What did you do, Susannah?" the were saw at the mature blonde with fear. "Are you trying to get out with Claire because you planned on hurting her?" her worst fear surfaced on her words at last.

"No! Don't be ridiculous!" the amulet didn't react this time. At least that was a relief. Nevertheless, my bad hunch didn't go away.

"You planned to do something to hurt Rena?" I asked every second my back muscles tensed a bit more.

"No!" and the red glow repeated. Claire did not hide her alarm, and her disappointment.

"What did you do, Susie?" she asked directly. The blond woman was transpiring now, and her eyes showed fear from us.

"She hates me, she is tearing us apart, Claire. I just, I just… "She shook her head, starting to cry.

"What did you do, Susannah?" Claire was dead serious now, she loved Renata as a daughter and she would never accept anyone hurting the young Were. "Don't lie; just tell me what you did." She demanded clearly, but in low voice, worried.

"I love you, Claire, I just want to be with you and…" the red glow on the amulet repeated.

"Call Glenn." I said to Ivy. She pulled out of her purse her cell phone at once. "I'm afraid you can not go anywhere until this matter is cleared, Miss Caruthers."

"The hell with all of you! I'm out of here!" she stood up, making the chair fall to the floor as she decided to change her strategy to elude us.

"Is there any problem, Miss Tamwood?" one of the bodyguards that watched over us came with a frown and his fangs at plain view. Susannah almost fell when he grabbed her by the wrist.

"Just a moment, Maurice. Talk now, Susannah, and maybe, if it is nothing too serious you can skip jail. If I call Glenn, he will arrest you, and the truth is going out. What did you do?" Ivy asked her in calmed voice. But she was mad as hell, I could tell.

"Call him." She dared to say after some moments of consideration. She couldn't escape from vamps. She was afraid of them. Perhaps she thought the police were a fine getaway, maybe she thought a lawyer could get her out quickly.

"It is your choice." Ivy dialed. "Hi, Glenn. We have a bit of a problem…" she explained the situation in few words. "He will be here in 10 minutes. He is having dinner across the plaza with Helen." She smiled at me.

"Ouch, I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way, she is nice. I think Glenn really likes her."

"Nah, she is curious about inderlanders and there are a bunch of us to maintain her entertained while the things get straight." She chuckled. "Well, Susannah; I hope your plans don't happen in front of an agent or you won't have a getaway at all. I'm sorry, Claire." My vamp looked with genuine shame at the cook, whom was startled and disappointed beyond tears; her green eyes were full of pain and anguish.

"Not as much as me, Ivy. Susannah, please. Tell me what you did." She asked again, calmly, but depressed. The blonde saw the clock again.

"Let me go." She demanded in a shout. Now all the eyes in the place were staring at our table. The manager of the local came with a frown. He was a pretty normal man, not tall, not short, not fat, not skinny, surely in his forties.

"What is going on in here?" he asked, I could smell the redwood when he got closer, so he was a witch.

"She is a shunned witch!" Susannah pointed at me. The man's face got all red with anger.

"You should leave the place at once." He said to me in a cold voice.

"I will no problem." I shrugged my shoulders, getting on my feet. "I'll be outside, love."

"But." Ivy clenched her jaws.

"Take care of Rena. I will be fine. Just find out what she did, if she cursed her; we might don't have much time to save Rena." I said and walked away. Susannah saw me leaving in despair.

"What is she talking about, what curse?" the manager sounded alarmed.

"The one that woman bought to hurt this young lady, genius." Jenks answered him as angry as Ivy. He didn't like it a bit when someone treated me as a pest and he also had suffered due to my shunning.

I was outside, sitting on a little bench on the street side, Glenn and Helen arrived in only 5 minutes, whilst Susannah was having a chaos of shouting and yelling inside.

"What happened, Rache?" he asked me.

"They kicked me out, I'm shunned, Glenn. Go inside, time is important, made her tell you what she did, if there is a curse going on, we have to move fast." I hurried them.

I walked ten paces forward and backwards on the sidewalk during the next five minutes. The costumers inside the place were leaving uncomfortable with the scene inside. In matter of another 5 minutes only the people I cared about and the staff of the restaurant were inside. I smelt the burnt amber and my body tensed a lot before relaxing. A demon was approaching. I searched around for a line, luckily, we were downtown, and it was easy to find one. I saw Glenn escorting Susannah and every body else outside the doors.

"Renata Mildred Reynolds" the voice came from the alley behind them, aside the restaurant. "Susannah says good bye" it was a cavernous voice. I had tapped a near line the moment I got aware of the demon coming and I was ready to attack. I hit the ever after ball of energy with a bolt of ley line energy before it reached Renata or anyone else. The ball energy diverted from its intended trajectory to crash upon a big palm in the garden aside, the poor palm broke in two, falling onto the grass with a loud noise.

All of my family was making circles to cover themselves.

"Cover Ivy and Erica, Mom, Cover as many as you can Robbie!" I shouted. I didn't know this demon; he was using a black robe. He looked like an old priest.

"Rachel Mariana Morgan" the demon saw me with a smirk. Then he went into a gaseous state. "What a pleasure! You and your vamp lover are my next target! You just saved my precious time." He appeared just besides Ivy and took her by the neck. I just tackled him I hit him with my shoulder above the hips, as Ivy was punching him in the guts. We three fell to the floor, I used some ley line against him and he went gassy again before it hit him.

"Who sent you?" I asked moving away from every body else with Ivy at my side. The stupid manager was trembling and Claire grabbed him for a wrist to put him inside her own circle, she protected him and Renata. Susannah was in the circle of Donald with Glenn and Helen. Mom had covered the two vamp bodyguards and Erica, the younger vamp was scared.

"Susannah Hillary Caruthers wants all of you dead, Rachel." He said making himself solid at the entrance of the alley again.

"She is not a witch. Who summoned you for her and what is the cost Susannah is paying?" I continued moving towards him. I moved my body in front of Ivy's, to cover her and our babies.

"Her soul, off course. I will take her as slave as soon I kill you all." The demon was very amused. All of us could hear the strangulate noise the blonde made. "I have heard of you and I must say I'm not disappointed, they said you are brave enough. You haven't even attempt to cover yourself. Bravo, Rachel!" he clapped his long hands twice. I went flying towards the wall, when a branch of the fallen palm hit me on the back. It was not only me. Ivy also shouted in pain and bewilderment flying with me. _Whoa! What's wrong with this picture? Why I didn't feel the attack? _ I slammed on the wall and rolled avoiding a bunch of bricks falling from the sky. I covered Ivy's belly with my body and the damn bricks smashed my back. _He is not attacking me directly; I can feel him, but not the objects he throws at me_ I realized. I tried to use ley line, and the bastard drained me as easily as Minias did once._ Damn him to the Turn and back, I got overconfident, and now I'm unable to use the line!_ A trash can hit me on the shoulder, and I screamed in pain as the rotten rim of the lid scratched all my shoulder, tearing my clothes and my skin up. Now I had a deep cut on my flesh.

"You are going to regret that!" I warned him in a low growl, falling into the darkness of the alley, getting Ivy with me. I was trying to cover for her as best as I could, but she was receiving a bunch of blows as well. And I couldn't even make a circle to protect her. We were inside the alley now. We were out of the sight of everybody; they were protected in front of the restaurant. The demon laughed following us. Jenks came to us, as we were having the beaten of our lives. All the objects inside the alley were punching at us from all the points. Not even Ivy's vamp reflexes and perception were enough to avoid the aggressive rain the demon sent upon us. She was able to avoid many projectiles from broken bottles until pieces of bricks and wooden boxes. I tried to cover her front, even if she was protesting. Regardless our best efforts pretty soon we both were in pain, and multiple little wounds were bleeding everywhere all over our bodies. Our babies were scared and their screams made all green my sight. I ran against the bastard, I could feel his position even in the dark; but my eyes had adjusted to the gloomy light the moon provided for us, and I could see him clear enough. The angry suffocated curse of Ivy made me flinch before I could reach him.

I turned only to see an iron bar was penetrating her shoulder from the back. The little distraction was enough for me to become an easy target. An entire trash container crashed against me, stamping all my body on a wall, I heard the scream of Ivy calling my name in fear, as I fell down almost unconscious, my brain was bouncing inside my head. My body felt so shocked and pained I could not move, I could barely breathe. The demon came confident to finish me off. He grabbed me by the neck and I thought he just had crushed my throat; I was too close to dismay. The loud noise from the trash container came to my ears, and I could see Ivy trying to jump over it, turned to be a useless effort. The container moved up and hit her legs. The impact sent her far away with a fat swearing shout, deep in the alley.

The pain reached a peak of agony, because my shallow breathing ceased so rudely and harshly almost for good thanks to the incredibly strong hand closing at my neck. My sight was turning black with bright colored spots, narrowing with every heartbeat. I heard the shouting of my pixie partner, and the grunt of the demon, annoyed by the four inches warrior.

Jenks pinched his eye with his sword, swearing in Tink's name, and I saw the spot, when the demon threw an arm waving to make Jenks retreat; my arm lifted on its own and my marked hand clenched on his throat as well and immediately the strong hand fell from my neck. The demon fell over me, and the new pain of the slamming of his body against my chest made me react. I started to pant desperate for some air. I felt like a punching bag and the demon didn't even make a noise when he went catatonic, my marks worked again their strange ability to suck his curses, charms and spells out of him and inside me. I didn't move from where I fell, my body was hurting all over.

This demon wasn't as powerful as Al by far. In less than 1 minute I had all of him. At that moment something inside me just seemed to click and the fire inside me ignited on an instinctual reflex, the blaze of fire just left my arm in a wave that carbonized into dusty ashes the demon in matter of seconds, I coughed. I felt about to dismay as his weight vanished on top of me, but Ivy was badly injured._ I have to heal her, she is loosing blood, she is in a lot of pain, and the babies are terrified._ Their screams calling for me inside my brain gave me the focus I needed. I stifled the pains all over my body, and turned on the floor, it took all my will for only getting on my hands and knees; Jenks was shouting at me on my ear to encourage and speed my movements. I was panting worst every second as the freaking waves of icy demon curses were smashing my insides. I crawled towards my vamp; until I reached her. She was coming my way, using the wall for support, and limping. She had a broken leg.

"God, Rachel! are you ok?" she asked me worried, in pain, she was severely injured, the iron bar had entered from her back, surely made a hole on her shoulder blade, then continued ripping flesh in its way to come out at the front, about 3 inches above her left breast. A little lower and her heart would be stake again. She had too many scratches and little cuts all over her body, like me, and bruises were forming over every inch of her skin. She tried to help me to stand up, but she lost the support and she fell by my side. Her jaws clenched to avoid a pained yell.

"I'll be… this is going to hurt, love, I have to heal you before you lose more blood." I pulled the bar out of her in one hard thrust. Ivy tensed a lot, but she did not scream, clenching her jaws even more forcefully, I tapped the line and my marks were all glowing as I shifted demon curses into healing spells. Somehow, I just did it, only by wishing to do it. It was like if all the things I needed came to me the moment I needed them. I covered the entrance and exit wounds with my hands. "I love you, I'm sorry, babe, this is going to hurt a while, just hold on a minute or two." I asked with the low caring growl I couldn't avoid, I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. For some reason I could not blush, or cry when I was like this. When I was sure that I healed her shoulder, I focused on her broken leg. She sighed in relief, when the bone straightened into its normal position. However, I continued the shifting from demon magic and curses into healing spells. I had to cure every little injure on her, the babies where in pain too. Ivy was rubbing my back softly, as I moved my hands spreading the healing all over her body; she had relaxed, I was doing it well; but I felt so hot, my skin was burning with the demon magic creeping inside me. Suddenly I fell unconscious, I didn't know if I could heal her properly.

My head was throbbing awfully and my legs itched like if Jenks had pixed me royally. I smelt the antiseptic all over me. The memories hit my conscious mind and all my body stiffened as I sat down with a shriek calling my vamp. _Did I heal her?_

"Ivy?" my voice was a very unpleasant sound, my throat hurt too.

"I'm here, dear heart." She sounded relieved; her arms embraced me softly, filling me with her warmth.

"Are you ok? The babies?" I croaked. _Just great! I have laryngitis!_ My voice barely went out like a harsh breath. I hugged her and touched her belly, only with my right arm. I noticed the sling immobilizing partially the other arm. The babies moved for me, greeting my hand, and my cheek, and I sighed comforted. She kissed my hair.

"We are fine, Rache, you healed me and then you passed out, you're injured, love, please laid down again." She asked me supporting me until my back reached the mattress. Her eyes met mine and locked on, piercing, brown with just a little black of anguish; her hands gently took my face by the jaws; she was looking for something on my eyes, but she could control herself like anyone I knew. "How do you feel?" Her question was not about my body, I could see she was concerned about my mental health. I killed a demon. _I was concerned myself for that when I fought with Al. But now…_Her hand was rubbing gently my jaw. I blinked two times. _I killed him; I turned him into a pile of ashes. But I'm not crazy. Am I?_ I mentally assessed my situation. _No, I'm not feeling anything like insane inside my head._ I saw into her beautiful eyes and I smiled to her.

"Well, I'm in pain, all my body hurts a lot, my ass and my thighs are itching like if I made Jenks mad at me and he pixed my underwear for good." I lifted a bit the sheet in my side to look at my thigh. "Oh no! No more marks! Ivy, I'm going to look like the calendar girl from a tattoo's joint!" I complained alarmed but quietly. I wasn't expecting that; why the marks continuing emerging on my skin, and why they didn't burnt like the first time. I could only feel the itchy part. She sighed and kissed me on the lips, only a slight brush.

"I don't care; I just want you alive and well, Rachel!" she whispered in my ear, she was fairly sure now I didn't lose my mind.

Cynthia and Robbie came closer too.

"More marks?" she asked me worried. I nodded depressed. "May I?" she asked a bit ashamed, I nodded. She lifted a bit the sheet, and saw at my right thigh; my skin was all black under the new marks. "Oh my God, that has to hurt!" she said with two big tears escaping her eyes, she was in pain for me. _Well, she doesn't have the stomach for seeing physical damage; she couldn't be 100% perfect, could she?_ She hid her face against the chest of my brother, and he hugged her, taking a pair of steps away from the bed.

"Well, I have been worst" I shrugged my sane shoulder; the other one was too stiff and wounded I couldn't move it. I had a big bandage over it, and a sling was immobilizing my left arm.

"What happened, Rachel? Why didn't you make a circle?" asked Robbie, he was worried, and tense.

"I couldn't, Robbie, he tapped into my own connection with the line, it's not the first time, I had to learn how they can drain all the power I get from the line; and find a way to get free from that." I sighed uncomfortable. All of them almost were reading my lips; my voice was barely a rough breath. My neck hurt and my throat even more.

"Here, I took it from your purse." Robbie activated a pain amulet and gave it to me. I relaxed instantly. The throbbing pain almost disappeared.

"Thank you, Bro!" I smiled to him and sat down with a new sigh of relief. "Hey, I'm not that bad, if I only need one." I saw the multiple scratches and bruises all over my arms. I had stitches here and there. Now I had new marks on the front of the wounded shoulder, getting down my arm until my elbow. I pulled a bit the short sleeve of the hospital garment to see it but the bandage covered a part, however, I had new marks on the arm. "Oh, God! Just better and better! How am I going to cover this?" Now I had my right hand colored with marks like stylized thin flames, sneaking on my skin and curled on themselves up until my elbow, and my upper left arm from the elbow to the shoulder. "I could never use a top again!" I complained "Please, tell me my neck and the rest is still clean, Ivy" I begged to her, looking for her face, while I was passing the right arm behind her waist, to lean on her body.

"Your front neck is still clean, love." She smiled at me. "We are waiting for the X rays, I'm afraid your ribs can be fractured. And I haven't looked on the rest of your body already, we're not alone." Her fresh hands caressed my back softly, over the faded blue garment.

"No, I haven't broken ribs; I couldn't breathe in that case. What happened?" I asked again. "Is Rena Ok?" I didn't stop hugging her.

"Yes, I am. Thank you, Rachel." Her voice came from the door. She entered with Helen. "How are you?" she was very sorry for me. Both women stared at me, I guessed I didn't look so good, just for the sorrow their eyes showed, and the worry and pain in the were's features.

"Not that bad, don't worry. It's not your fault. What happened to Susannah?" I saw at Glenn's friend.

"Well, she is under arrest; we have witnesses of the demon's declaration." The blonde said with a frown. "She will pay for that!" _Ah, she loves justice; after all, she is FBI._

"Is she protected?" I asked.

"What you mean protected?" Helen saw me attentively.

"Black witches have their ways of getting rid of problems, Helen. Susannah will not fall alone, she will say the name of the witch, and that witch will shut her up. Magic is almost untraceable and if another demon is sent to kill her, the agents will not have a chance." Ivy explained. "Most times, even witches don't have it. If Susannah talks, she is dead, and if she doesn't talk, anyway she is a liability for the demon's summoner." the voice of my beloved vamp was even but she had a frown, of course, she didn't like the idea of protecting the woman that just happened to try to kill us. Nevertheless, in the end, Susannah just was an imbecile, a stupid cookie without a soul.

"I see, I will call Matthew and warn him." She said worried, activating her cell phone, she went to a corner to pass the info to Glenn.

"Do you want some juice or water?" Ivy offered me a box of apple juice; she took it from the night table beside her.

"Yes, thank you, love". I took a pair of sips and leaned my head on her belly. "What time is it?"

"Still three hours to sunrise, you were unconscious about 4 hours, Rache." Cynthia answered me, looking at me with those big blue eyes filled with worry and sympathy, and even admiration. "I have never seen a demon before, or felt it. That was scary. And you just jumped on it and punched it! You just reacted, I was frozen, if Robbie wouldn't be there!" she shook her head; my brother hugged her comforting her. So, she didn't react, and my brother covered her, he must be mad at me. I put all of them in danger, and if it was a joke for him the day before, now was a chilly reality, demons were after me, and he heard what the demon said to me. At the same time, he was worried about me; I was the Scion of a living vamp and a target for demons.

"Oh yes, it was scary." The blonde agent reckoned. "My job is white collar, I know to use a gun, but energy bolts, fire balls, flying objects; that thing appearing and disappearing all over the place!" she shuddered "How do you do anything when you don't know where from are attacking at you?" she asked me directly; her eyes told she was a bit scared of me, even I ended up knocked out in a dirty alley.

"Instinct and luck." I chuckled. "Demons can be scary, but that one was a low class demon. Not too powerful. Maybe a trader, he collects souls of unaware stupid cookies like Susannah; which go to black witches and think is easy to get rid of people. She forfeits her soul and she didn't even know it. The witch whom summoned him, that's the real danger for the human and the inderlander society, he or she is dealing with demons for a personal gain, but at the end, he or she is as doomed as the clients they hooked with the demon. I hope Susannah survives, but I doubt it. Even if she survives, her soul is lost." I said pensive and took another two sips of juice, the coolness of the beverage soothed a bit the pain inside my throat.

"You made him go away?" Helen saw me attentively. So he was trained to see a bit further than the rest of people, her work required vision, and she was fishing; she wasn't sure if I made a new deal with the demon, she was trapped in the circle of Donald, protected from the demon, but unable to see what happened.

"Yes, Rache kicked his ass back to ever after." Jenks landed on Ivy's shoulder.

"You distracted him, Jenks. You made my window of opportunity." I smiled to him "I owe you a jar of honey."

"Made that two, witch." The pixie chuckled. "My left wing is in bad shape." A line of pixie dust was leaking from there.

"That's remarkable, how a pixie can be that brave?" Helen saw him attentively.

"You never have seen a battle between pixies and fairies, Helen. They are warriors like no others, if they were even 4 feet tall, they would rule the entire world." Ivy smiled fondly "Jenks is a swordsman I can not beat, and I'm good with a sword."

"Yes you are, Tamwood. But we pixies fight our entire lives for the gardens. That's the food for our kids." The pixie crossed his arms over his chest. "I will take a nap in the tissue box." He decided flying off from Ivy's shoulder towards me; he gave me one of his Peter Pan poses, looking at me attentively. I was still hugging Ivy's waist, leaning on her body, I was comfortable like that. And she had a hand resting softly over the bandage covering my shoulder, hugging me as well. I was hers; she wanted to protect me, because I was in bad shape. "Tink's little red panties, Rache, you have all his claw blue and black in your neck, he almost crushed your windpipe; I'm sorry, I should…" he trailed off, in shame. He cared for me almost as a father.

"You are the reason he couldn't break my neck, Jenks. You had my back as always. Thank you. He could kill you as well. Thank God you are as fast as you are, or a damaged wing wouldn't be the only reminder for you either. I'm sorry it was that close, the damn thing was worst than I imagined, and he surprised me badly. Thanks, Jenks." I cajoled him with a truthful smile. He sighed and nodded, still a bit embarrassed.

"Any time, Rache." He flew to the table. "Don't forget to wake me up when we go."

"We won't, Jenks, take some rest." Ivy said sitting besides me, on the bed.

The door opened again, and Claire Britt entered with mom and Don, and surprisingly, Ivy's mom entered as well. Erica came in two steps behind, and she closed the door. Kimberly Tamwood was wearing a business suit; that maybe was a kind of a costume for her at work, in dark red, it became to her. High heels, but not even with almost four inches of heels she could reach the stature of Ivy. She came directly closer to the bed and took a good look of us both. Obviously, she didn't miss the dirty clothes under the coat of Ivy and the smell of the blood on them.

"I got you an AMA, Rachel. You can go to the church immediately." The undead offered a folder to Ivy. My ebony haired partner took it.

"Thanks." I nodded.

"The thing is all over the net by now. That's how I knew. I was already moving papers when Rica called me." She informed us with that cold efficiency.

"The internet?" Ivy arched her eyebrow at the same time her mother did, looking into each other eyes. They were beautiful, they looked like sisters. Ivy had a coat over her dirty clothes, and her elegance and grace covered for that; no one could doubt the two of them were family, but the coldness of the undead mother was enough to chill anyone.

"Someone with a camera was filming the entire episode. One hour ago, the video had already like one hundred thousand visits globally, Ivy. Rachel is in the open again. But that was no secret since before. Rynn is not pleased. But he doesn't blame on either of you; on the contrary, now he thinks someone else's watching over you two. Why and who, we don't know. You have to maintain a low profile, and stop going out, until we can find out who's following you, and the motives they have to do it. Use a service to shop the groceries, and if you need any supplies for the magic make lists, he will send someone to buy it. Doctor says there are two or three little cracks on one arm, one leg, and one rib bones, but they didn't brake. There are no too serious injuries but the cuts on the shoulder and the trauma on the windpipe. You cannot talk freely in four or five days, while the throat heals; some very bad bruises, and a multitude of little cuts. Make sure she takes her medicines, Ivy. There is a medical kit waiting in the church for the change of bandages and so, Ivy is a good nurse, she can do it." The very efficient executive kept looking at her daughter and me alternately, as she briefed the facts. "This could raise a scandal; the way is put on the net, points to maybe witches, maybe somebody else. They made it look like a protest for the shunning of Rachel, Ivy." She said seriously. She apparently didn't mind we were sitting together and with an arm around each other.

"Pardon?" I blinked.

"Yes, the question the video is making, how can you say a witch is black, when other witch is sending demons to kill her, and she has to defend herself? The declarations, the official ones, just arrived to the papers. Here, Miss Britt explained to the media the way she met you and the work you did for her. That will be yet another scandal, the firm managing her finances is a big name in the business world, and they are under investigation for days now. Your name is going to sound a lot on the papers and the news, try not to talk with the media either, don't answer the phone. Anything can be twisted and used to trigger a development even worst for the situation." Ms. Tamwood said seriously, she was doing damage control, and she was good at it.

"Excuse me, Ms. Tamwood. Are you saying someone wants to hurt or to help our daughters?" mom asked worried. The undead woman seemed to calculate the odds of talking in front of my family, not that she was putting any attention to them at least she didn't give that away.

"Rachel is a target, Ms. Morgan. She has been a target for a number of high players for a while. She found the focus. And the word that she possesses it had spread in ways we don't know. She is a target for vamps, weres, even witches, if she was shunned weren't the vamps whose did that. Being in a coma for 6 months protected her, everyone wants the focus. No one moved to kill her, and Rynn Cormel protected her all the time, since Ivy asked for it, being Rachel her Scion. Rachel went into that coma saving the life of my daughter, the very duty of a Scion. It wasn't official to that point. Now it is official; Rachel is a part of our community, and we take care of our own." She explained a bit less coldly. "For now, we don't know if this is just the prank of a kid with a camera that got lucky to see some action; or if there is a political agenda behind the move and a very capable spy is watching them." She pointed with a little frown. And then she turned at us again "Anyway, the best is not taking any risks. Stay in the church, and we will find out what's going on." She said in a polite but determined tone.

"Yes, you are right in that, Ivy is pregnant, she must be very careful. The babies' safety is first." Mom agreed pensive.

"Exactly, this attack was entirely outside the ones we expected, this one was a gold digger offended by the wise warnings they gave her. Sorry if I'm cold, Ms. Britt, but I despise that kind of woman since birth." She arched that infamous eyebrow.

"I'm devastated, I knew Susannah was more interested in my money than in other thing, but I didn't think of her as murderer, she ordered the death of my surrogate daughter only because she thought she could control me without her influence. And she wanted to hurt Rachel and Ivy only because they told her exactly what happens when people hire black witches." The famous cook shook her head. Renata hugged her. "I'm so sorry, this is my entire fault."

"You have bad taste in women. That is not a sin, Claire." Mom told her with her usual forwardness and sincerity. "The important thing is that Rena is Ok, Ivy is Ok, and Rachel is going to be very soon. Now you have to make some protections, in case Susannah still can contact the witch she hired. But she is the one in danger of dying now. No black witch is going to fall for a human and that's ancient history." She shrugged her shoulders. "Rache is very capable of protect her family from demons and they will be safe from demons in holly ground, while she recovers from this one. You in the other hand, you need protections for a while. However, you are a witch; you must know what to do."

"Yes, I know. I haven't spelled in ages, but it's time to start again." She sighed. Then she took the chart of the base of my bed, and looked at it. "For a match with a demon, you are practically ok, kiddo." She fixed her green eyes on me.

"Are you familiarized with medicine?" asked Ivy interested.

"I haven't been a cook my entire life, sweetie. I have medical magic degree, and vet degree, and history degree, I even studied spiritual magic with isolated medicine men and women in remote villages and lost tribes. That is almost lost. Over 30 years ago, I decided to settle down and leave the jungles and the deserts to new adventurers. Olga helped me, I helped her, and we made a business of cooking." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you saying you were in jungles, looking for shamans and treasures?" Ivy looked at her with new eyes, all of us were_. No wonder she likes fast cars and motorcycles._

"Not treasures, knowledge, sweetie. I've seen my share of black witches, that demon, was Titus, I once saw him, in Greece. He was a low class demon, but very familiarized with this side of the lines. Those are more dangerous sometimes than the higher demons that don't know much of this world. I never wanted to see another of those things, but it came from the most unexpected source. That's it, no more girlfriends until I find a good woman!" She put the chart in its place again.

"And you agreed to see a suspected black witch for the mood of your girlfriend?" I asked. "What if I was one?" I shook my head that was beyond my battered brain's capacity of comprehension for now.

"I would convince Susannah of going away before making any arrangement with you, Rachel. But you are no black witch at all." She smiled, shaking her head amused.

"You can't know that." I objected.

"Yes, I can. You have no smut in your aura. And there is no demon marks on you." She pulled a pair of glasses off her pocket. "These are charmed to see that. And I saw you coming before taking them off." She offered them to me. I open them to see through the tinted crystals there were like second sight.

"Cool." I offered the glasses back. She put them in her pocket again.

"They were a present from a very dear teacher, once upon a time, that's why they're old fashioned. But they are really useful and I don't have to use the second sight and warn everybody." She shrugged her shoulders again. "Rena has good instincts too, she read you right away. That's the other reason for my confidence on you; she is a very much better character judge than me, despite her youth." She hugged the shoulders of the young were. "And I thank you deeply for saving her life, kiddo. You prevented that attack came to her. I owe you. I won't forget it, ever." She said grateful.

"Rena is my friend; of course I had to do something, Claire."

"See? And you take offense when someone doesn't think of you as black witch?" the cook laughed briefly, condescending.

"No, I'm not black witch. But I'm bad witch!" I laughed too.

"Nah, you're just young witch! You should know me back in the day, I was really tough." She smiled with a hint of nostalgic amusement. "We will visit you; to see if you are recovering well, kiddo. Take care of her, sweetie." The witch gave a squeeze to Ivy in the arm.

"I will, thank you, Claire." She pressed the shoulder of the cook with her palm, softly.

"I have to go too, go to the church. Now she is not in the condition for another match with anyone, Ivy. Rica, go with them, your dad is going to pick you up in the morning."

"She can stay if she wants." I said.

"Well, call to your father if that's the case, Rica. Good bye." Ms Tamwood went fast.

Ivy moved the papers, and we went to the church, Jenks was still asleep in the tissue box, Cynthia carried it for us. Mom wasn't happy until she saw me in bed. And the medication along with the pain amulet kept me sleepy.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: KH owns most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. This is still far from ending (You know, I just noticed this is from Dune saga, sorry, that is not mine either). Just be patient with me a little more, we will get to the focus in the next chapters. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 10

I woke up to realize I was spooning Ivy's body. It was like a pleasant déjà vu, I took a deep breath taking in her scent. I automatically moved my arms to embrace her.

"Are you awake, dear heart?" She asked lifting a bit her head from the pillow. I covered one of her breasts with one hand. "Yes, you are awake." I could see the little smirk on her profile; my other hand was already rubbing her stretched abdomen. The babies moved for me. She turned to face me. "How do you feel?" her eyes examined me clinically. I noticed she must have been awake for a while, because she had the lamp night on. The light was enough to let me see clearly at her, but not to hurt my eyes. _Why is she asking me how I feel instead of kissing me good morning?_

Then I felt the numbed pain over most of my body and the memories came to the front of my mind. Last night I was heavily medicated, but the moment Ivy went to bed I was looking for her body, even I was sunk in the drowsiness the medication induced on me. I tensed when I remembered the way she was injured; my eyes looked for the spot the iron bar had emerged on her chest, my hand pulled the delicate strap of her gown out of the way, lowering it to uncover the skin above her breast completely. I stared at the perfect skin in front of me and I sighed, taking inside my lungs her scent once again. Her smell always soothed my pains; it always made me feel protected and safe. My arms tightened their grip around her body. I kissed the flawless spot softly, almost reverently. There was no sign of the wound caused by that iron bar I just pulled out of her the night before. The magic had healed her until the point of leaving perfect silky unmarked skin. It was as if the injure never happened. My hand was feeling for the spot on her back, sneaking inside the silk gown. The other hand was looking on the long leg she had positioned gently across my waist.

"I'm fine, dear. You healed me. There's no marks, no scars, no way to tell I was as bad as you are now." She said quietly. "I had never heard of such a thing. Not even at the witches hospitals. How do you feel?" she asked me again worried for my reaction.

I cleared my throat and a weird sound came out. When I cleared it yet again, it hurt despite the pain amulet I was wearing. Without the pain amulet, I wouldn't dare to attempt talking. Ivy was worried about me and I could not let her be worried, not for me.

"I'm fine." I said but the sound was barely like a husky rough breath, I sighed. _So much for your efforts, Rachel. Now she is even more worried._ My sweet vamp used her hands to explore my neck, checking it thoroughly.

"He almost broke your windpipe, love. That's why your larynx is so swollen, try not to talk, that must be hurtful for a few days." She said concerned. I kissed her knuckles. And I pulled her over me, getting on my back. I hugged her with another sigh. I used my fingers to caress her face. I smiled, a tiny smile, an apologetic smile. I had been incapable of protect her and our babies. I was overconfident and a lower demon almost killed them and me. _That is not going to happen again_. I promised to myself. "What?" she trapped my hand gently, and kissed my palm.

"Just laid here with me for a while, babe. I want to hug you." I said but she had to guess for the movement of my lips.

"I want to hug you as well, my little witch." She leaned her head on my sane shoulder, and I closed my eyes with a new sigh, wrapping my arms around her body. She was wearing that midnight blue conservative night gown with low cleavage. "You must be tired and aching." Her silk gray voice was low and guilty. "I just still can not believe I couldn't react." She sighed tiredly.

"You reacted to cover for our babies and even for me!" I croaked barely. "It was my fault, I grew overconfident. It's not going to happen again. Not again, love!"

"Rachel, be quiet, your throat is not well. Just laid down and get some rest." She asked me. I nodded and held her tightly. The soft knocks on the door preceded Erica showing her head on the little space she opened.

"Your family is here, they arrived like one hour ago, but your mom is cooking with Cynthia's help. They are worried about you." She told us quietly.

"Thanks, Rica. We will be there in a minute." Ivy said with a sigh.

We went out the bedroom in robes; the pain amulet was working well. I was in pain, but it was bearable. Mom hugged me tightly, she was wearing jeans and a green sweater, she looked a lot younger than before she went to California. I squeezed her and kissed her cheeks. Robbie was sitting down at the table with Don both of them were serious.

"How do you feel, honey?" she held my face in her hands. I had several bruises on the face too. Even they stitched my forehead in two different points. And I had a black eye, almost closed by the swelling. She almost couldn't hold tears, and I laughed almost without a sound.

"I'm alive, mom." I shrugged my shoulders. The big bandage was still covering the deep scratches and cuts, but part of the injured skin was very easy to see, but I decided not to use the sling anymore. I went to the stove to check on the pans, curious. I took a mug from the cabinet and filled it with water without thinking on it. Cynthia greeted me and she was telling me about the legends, I nodded, while I was putting things in the mug without seeing them or even realized I was doing it. I came to the table, where she had several diaries on display over the solid surface. The notebooks with leather covers and the handwriting of several generations were the memoirs of her family's work on the legends. She opened one, to show me the drawings of hands and arms, with the color order of the marks on them, marks like mine.

The mug started to produce some vapor. I nodded again, interested on the words my sister in law was telling. And I drank half of the mug in one big mouthful, forcing it down despite the pain in my throat. It was the most revolting thing I had ever tasted. My throat felt as if it had exploded in flames. My tongue, mouth and nose were scorching with the extremely hot weird beverage. The larynx went closed, and all my body felt electrified, I fell on one knee, miraculously letting the mug on the table without spilled it or broke it, trying to cough without success. My hands came to my neck; I was incapable to take any air inside, even with my mouth open.

And the cherry on the pie came when my stomach started clenching with the nausea, the very second the potion reached it. Robbie stood up alarmed, and Ivy was coming at vamp speed. But Cynthia took a stand behind me, with her arms and legs spread, to avoid them from reaching me. The current of power ran through my entire body sending undulating waves to every muscle, even some I didn't know I had.

"Don't touch her." Cynthia ordered rising her voice a bit. "Didn't you see?" she claimed, "She is healing herself!" her statement hit clearly into my conscious mind. I calmed down taking one, two, three little breaths through my nose. I opened the mouth and I counted down three more breaths in silence. Ivy did not touch me but she put down a knee at my side to see me closely. My body stiffened and a lot of muscular and bone noises were clear and loud to everybody. The bruises, scratches and cuts on my arms began to disappear in front of my eyes. I could clear my throat. I moved my head one side, and then the other, the noises of my body settling down continued for 20 or 30 seconds. Finally, I relaxed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I said to my lover. My eyes went wide open with surprise, that didn't hurt anymore and my voice was normal. I stood up slowly, feeling in case my body did something weird. Ivy regained her standing position without loosing a single movement or expression on my face, ready to support me in the case something went wrong. "Whoa!" I blinked twice and scratched a bit one of the stitches on my forehead. "I think I have to take them off." They began to feel tightened and tingling.

"Yes or the suture could incarnate in your flesh, come, love, I will cut them." Ivy called me moving a chair. She used a pair of little scissors and some medical pliers to remove all the stitches quickly and efficiently, not only the ones on my head but every stitch in my arms, all of the cuts were healing rapidly. "There are more stitches on your shoulder, your back, and your legs, love." She remembered me with hasty eyes.

"Don, Robbie, go to the living room, I will call you when Ivy is done." Mom shushed them away. I had to strip down in the kitchen. The black and purple areas all over my body were disappearing so fast. Ivy was very good at medical care, I barely felt the pulls of the pliers and I giggled when she worked her way on some areas, where her movements tingled on my skin. Erica was passing upon the places Ivy was taking the stitches off another set of pliers with cotton balls dripping antiseptic to clean the little points the suture thread left on my skin.

"Well, I think that was the last one, dear." Ivy sighed when she pulled the last stitch of my calf. She was kneeling on the floor besides me, and I was standing up now.

"And I think you should finish your potion." Cynthia put the mug in front of me.

"Maybe, but it is disgusting." I said before take the rest on another single big gulp. The effect on my throat was the same, and the nausea on my stomach. The very little bleeding points on my back and legs healed at once. I panted when it passed. "Anyone saw what did I put in the mug?" I left it empty on the table.

"No, no one can know, not even you, Rache!" Cynthia said with a wiseass smug. "I told you those are arcane spells and knowledge only the chosen ones possess but they can not divulge! It is for real! It's not a legend!" she hugged me enthusiastic. And then she took a step back to see me head to toe. "Marvelous! Not a single hint of the beaten you got just 16 hours ago! And you have new marks, on the shoulder and the arm, the thighs, and your buttocks." She pointed. I covered my ass turning on her to hide it, ashamed, even dough I was wearing underwear. Erica laughed.

"You are a prude!" she teased me. Ivy extended my robe, and I went to her, she slid the fabric around me, in a hug, from my back. I made a knot on the belt right away. She turned me delicately from the shoulders; her hands examined again my throat, while she was looking thoroughly. Then she saw at my shoulder, pulling a bit the robe, much like I did only minutes ago with her nightgown.

"Thank you, honey." I hugged her by the waist, in front of me.

"I'm just glad you are recovered now, love." She leaned her head on mine. "But this is worrying" she sighed.

"Tell me about it. Half of the time I don't know what I'm doing." I sighed too.

"Unbelievable, but truth, it seemed so strange when you read about it. Although I saw you, you didn't even take a glance of the herbs and condiments you mixed in the mug. You were totally unaware of it, like if a hidden part of you had taken control. You didn't think it was another thing than coffee or water, did you?" Cynthia locked her big blue eyes on mine, and I nodded.

"Coffee!" I went to serving one mug for myself and another one for Ivy. She smiled to me and sat down on her usual chair, already having a sip.

"Why this happened, Cynthia? Is there any explanation of that in your family's chronicles?" my vamp asked interested.

"Sorry, Ivy." She shook her head. "In fact only one of the diaries is about the demon hunters, and mostly was written by my grandfather. He saw a chosen one when he was a kid. In Germany, He was from there. About 150 years ago, the chosen one stole a book from the museum in which his father worked at." She told us with a nostalgic smile in her face.

"Oh God! The book written by Klabrgh!" I blinked twice. _The world is a napkin, my sister in law has information I need._ "Did your grandfather knew who was that witch?" I asked at once.

"No, it was a woman, that's for sure. He described her like a medium sized, very attractive young woman; maybe in her early twenties, or younger than that. She had both hands marked; he saw her hands when she took the book. And then, teenager at last, he got lost in her breasts. The most beautiful breasts he ever saw, he always said. But he didn't look at her face." She shrugged the shoulders almost amused.

"Was she naked?" Ivy asked "How could he only see her chest if she was a thief?" she huffed in disapproval.

"Almost naked, she had very little clothes under the travel cape she was wearing. Let's see, grandpa draw a picture of her." She browsed the diary. "How do you know that was the book she stole, by the way?" she saw me a bit startled.

"I'm looking for a copy of it; months ago, since before the coma." I shrugged my shoulders. Ivy, Erica, Mom and I stared at the drawing. The clearest part was the one with the marked hands, it was made in colors. And for the other, a big shot of barely covered breasts, without doubt very nice breasts. I saw the drawing and then the cleavage of Ivy. "You could be the number one suspect if you were a medium size woman, love." I let out a tiny laugh. That drawing wasn't helping at all; it was very much as a superhero's drawing made by a teen obsessed with comic books on his notebook.

"That's because I'm huge right now, dear. Watch in here, this woman has a belt, with a symbol. This might give us a hint of who she was." She pointed at the medium part of the traced body on the paper. A belt with a big dandelion carved in one ornamental plate of the belt marking the brief waist.

"You are not huge! You have beautiful breasts since I know you, and they have not changed a bit yet, honey." I cajoled her with a fond smile. "And for the symbol, I have one on my ass, Ivy. Dandelions were common motives between witches' clans in Europe the last three centuries." I said with a sigh. "No, there is no way to know what clan was or if she had stolen that belt as well. It happened 150 years ago." I pointed.

"Why are you interested on that book, Rachel?" Cynthia asked again, intrigued.

"I want to corroborate if the legend of Klabrgh is truth, Cynthia. Do you happen to know something about that matter too?" I asked just in case.

"Legends are my legacy, Rache!" She took another diary to browse, excited.

"Do you have an actual tattoo, young lady?" my mother saw me with a frown.

"Ah, yes, is the official tattoo of my were pack, mom." I blushed. "And now also the flames. But it wasn't my idea; I'm a member of the pack, so I had to do it, and it hurt a lot!" I said trying to gain some sympathy.

"It's cute, dough." Ivy chuckled between her teeth.

"Maybe now, I don't want to imagine how is going to look in 80 years." I shook my head.

"I figure you can cover it with a complexion spell if you want, dear. But it does look cute now." She winked an eye mischievously.

"There is not much about this witch. Klabrgh, it is a she also. She was a witch who lived likely from 1050 to 950 BC. She allegedly killed a vamp camarilla when they attacked her village and took her daughter. The legend says she trapped the Master Vamp and put his soul back in his body, after mummified him, she only made his heart and brain functional. And the master vamp was alive for 20 years, conscious, while the witch hunted down his entire line, to kill them in front of him. To make him witness the last of his descendants die; like her daughter die. After that, she killed him and vanished. No one ever again saw Klabrgh." Cynthia read the entry on the diary. "My great grand mother wrote her insights of the case; do you want to hear them?" she asked.

I was staring at Ivy, and she was doing the same thing with me, this was a very different story than the one we knew.

"I thought you said she made a normal man's heart beat for 20 years in his mummified body, Rache." Ivy told me quietly.

"Well, that's the light version of the legend for curiosity books about legendary witches, but the truth is this version, Ivy. My family is pretty sure, or they wouldn't have written it as this." Cynthia said and her big blue eyes went wide open. "Of course, you are looking for a way to save Ivy's soul!" she tapped lightly her forehead, with her index finger. "But the regular legend doesn't mention the soul thing." She frowned.

"Rachel was aiming for the part of maintain a part of our bodies alive after our first death, Cynthia, to feed the soul, she says the soul needs living tissue to feed from. She was interested in the way that witch was capable of maintain a beating heart for 20 years in a mummified body." Erica explained. "She is expecting to find a way to anchor our souls to a small part living in our undead bodies."

"Aha, I didn't know the legend as this. I've never heard of a master vamp involved." I nodded pensive "But you say it was a master vamp; which must mean that he was already undead, and you say that witch managed to give him his soul back?" I looked at Cynthia. "So it is possible!"

"Klabrgh did it almost 3 thousand years ago, Rache." Cynthia nodded. "My great grand mother thought she made a deal with a demon, and when she finished her vengeance, then the demon took her, and that's why no one saw her again." She explained to all of us.

"That makdes sense, a way to trap and to torture a soul, sounds very correct for a demon handy-work." I nibbled my bottom lip, pensive. "So, perhaps that book wasn't written by Klabrgh, but by the demon she dealt with. Or she wrote it with the things the demon taught her." I sighed "Anyway I have to find that book." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Now is even more important." Erica nodded.

"And maybe we have to let this aside for a while and have some lunch." Mom said "I will call the boys." She went towards the living room. She was worried. I was way out of my league here. Certainly, Rynn Cormel couldn't be the first vampire trying to do this. And if it hasn't been done in thousands of years that had to mean it wasn't easy.

Robbie was very serious. He almost didn't talk at all. I decided for pizza for the meal, and I started to prepare the necessary ingredients. I was feeling very well. The potion not only healed me, it had replenished my blood, I was certain of that. That could be the very thing I was looking for giving up on the brimstone. Ivy wore a maternity dress for the first time. It was sky blue, long only to her knees, with V cleavage, not to low, but enough to give away a hint of the magnificent breasts it covered. She was still slender and trim, by the back, you still didn't notice she was pregnant. The fabric of the dress was soft, and it wrapped her very attractively. Her hair was perfect, but her hair was always in place. She was lovely and sexy at the same time. _Maybe it's just me whom thinks she is sexy dressed like a future mommy, she really looks so good in anything!_ Mom almost melted when she saw her coming. Her belly wasn't that big already. But with the dress, it was noticeable.

She helped me chopping the mushrooms; she liked them sliced in certain way. Then she started to put them on the first pizza; I put the pepperoni on the first pizza and then placed the package in her hand with a little smile, she always enjoyed eat some slices alone. Ivy ate a pair of slices with a pleasant nod and she served me a glass of water. I went to bring the other pizza and she returned the package of pepperoni to my hand, with a little stroke of fingers. I distributed generously the pepperoni on the new one, while she finished the first. At last I gave the pepperoni pack to her with only three or four slices, Ivy walked away, eating those whilst she programmed the timer in the oven. I went to put away in the fridge the cheese and other stuff while she dressed the second one with the last ingredients; I brought back with me the orange juice. I poured a glass for her; she took it from my hand passing besides me to carry some used props towards the sink, sparing me a wink of her eye at the time, playful. I closed the oven with the pizzas inside. I walked towards the sink and I took my glass of water from Ivy's hand when I passed along her to wash the dirty kitchen props. Ivy put away the things as she dried them. We smiled at each other grabbing our glasses of water and orange juice to turn at the table. We found the eyes of everybody fixed on us. I didn't notice the silence until that moment. Even Erica was watching us with her eyes amazed.

"What?" Ivy stiffened a bit.

"Nothing, V, It's just I haven't look at you as a housewife before." Her little sister giggled. Ivy blushed. And I blinked.

"That was beautiful, gals. You don't even have to talk, you are synchronized. It takes years to achieve that kind of understanding." Cynthia nodded "You remembered me of my parents. They act like that when they cook together." She shrugged her shoulders "The amazing thing is you are runners, I saw you just last night fighting a demon; dealing with cops, and a murderer, all tough girls, and now you are regular gals making dinner. It's really awesome!" She smiled fondly.

"It is." Donald nodded "Maybe the fact you have lived together for years now has a lot to do with it. You already know what the other likes." He saw the glasses in our hands.

"Yes, now I'm convinced you two can work as a couple, more than friends." Mom smiled at us, with her eyes full of tenderness. "You don't have a real relationship until you achieve this kind of closeness, and mutual understanding. I have my doubts, vamps have ways of getting things a bit confuse. Pheromones, for one, but I haven't seen you use your pheromones on Rachel other than last night, and it was for relaxing her a bit on the way home, to soothe her pains, you relaxed all of us in the car, Ivy." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, you haven't seen a thing, my sister produces pheromones at undead rates, she can blood sugar single handed a small room if she wants." Erica's laughter was very fresh and appealing. "But V always controls herself when she is with Rachel, because she doesn't want her confused; or making things Rache doesn't want to do. Trust is a big issue for us, Ms. Morgan. We don't betray the people whom choose trusting us." She informed my family. "V is a very atypical living vamp. She doesn't behave like most of us. Even dough, she is still the strongest living vamp in the city. I don't think even Rynn's Scion is as strong as Ivy, but V has been special since birth, Tamwood line is old, more than a thousand years old; there are not much lines over the millennium. Our blood is strong, coveted. Even I wouldn't have a problem to get a high blood husband, by contract, or arrangement; because I'm the second daughter of Kimberly Tamwood. I have daddy's name, his blood is not as old as Tamwood's, but by marrying mom, he up leveled his line as well. Ivy was raised to be the heir of the line, but she didn't want it. Now she is pregnant, and she will give heirs to Tamwood line. Even if she wants it or not, she is taking her place like the new heir of Tamwood line; only by having babies." She sighed.

"But, if the babies are not from a vamp, much less high blood vamp; like they say, isn't that a problem?" asked Robbie.

"No, Tamwood blood is too old, enough to produce strong heirs by its own." Erica answered convinced. "Even dough, the girls could have rough times when they are growing up, there is much purism in the vamp community, that's why the lines are so important. But I think they will be at least as strong as me; that is enough to maintain the line, and later improve it."

"If you think I will do to my girls, what they did with me, you're dead wrong, little sis." Ivy said with a frown.

"You are way ahead, there is no point in discussing that, we don't know if the girls might want to be heirs, but I think they have the right to know and choose on their own; when the time comes for them. For now, it's just speculation." I said and shrugged my shoulders.

"I saw the video, it was a bit far but enough to prosecute legally that woman for trying to kill you." Robbie said seriously, changing the subject all the sudden. "You know I'm not thrilled by your way of living, Rache. I don't like a bit you putting yourself in danger. But I heard the demon. And you weren't scared, sis. You just attacked him, and you saved that girl's life. I know you did the difference for her. I can understand that kind of feeling. But you are in danger, maybe worst than before." He sighed. "I know it wasn't your fault, I wasn't taking seriously the kind of things you do. You didn't do anything for that woman wanted to kill you. She is a psycho." He shook her head condemnatory.

"I saw it too; I used your lap, V. Rachel looked in pretty bad shape when you take her out the alley. They must be thinking it would take at least a week before she can leave the recovery bed. And the news!" she sighed.

"The news?" I asked.

"Yes, and I can say Claire Britt is putting her own reputation on the line for you. Of course the phone went insane, I put all the volume down, and made a message that Vampiric Charms is out of business temporarily for reparations, you said you wanted remodeling the place." The young vamp said with a little frown. "I know that was not my place, V, but…" she stared at my partner apologetic.

"It's ok, Rica. I was planning to do the same. Dealing with curious people and reporters pretending be clients, I'm not in the mood for that right now." My vamp took a sip of her orange juice.

"At least most of them won't be looking for a date service." I shrugged my shoulders. Ivy frowned at first, but then we laughed seeing at each other.

"What kind of service?" Cynthia seemed stunned a moment. We explained the mistake in the phone pages at first. And she blushed joining the laughter.

"More than half the calls were from those looking for other than runs. You wouldn't believe the quantity of curious teens I had to menace with telling their moms what they were doing. As soon I mentioned their moms they panicked." I shrugged my shoulders "Now is funny, but I was pissed off then."

The doorbell rang and I went to see who was coming. Glenn and Helen were at the door, I invited them in. She was astonished by my looks. Even Glenn was. I led them into the kitchen and invited them to eat with us.

Mom saw the way they were looking at me, and she pull out an amulet of her own purse. She activated it and then she gave it to Helen. The blond agent turned into a brunette with toasted skin. And she almost went crazy, putting it on and taking it off her in front of the mirror Cynthia held for her. My sister in law was giggling, definitely amused by her incredulous expression.

"Complexion amulets, honey. You combine the complexion amulets with pain amulets, and you don't look weak." Mom said. "The worst thing a witch can do is to look weak after an attack. That could give the impression of possible victory to whom tried to kill her just yesterday. Rachel has to look good." She lied with all her mouth, and she didn't even flinch.

"This is really awesome, I have tried before for Halloween, but I have never obtained something like this!" she saw at her amazed.

"Mom makes much better complexion amulets than most of the stores can sell; we always won the Halloween's costume contests in the school." Robbie said nostalgic. "It is a question of eye, and measure. Rache is good combining the right amulets to look exactly like some one else. But for making them, mom is the best."

"That is the very truth. Mom makes the best complexion amulets I had ever worn." I nodded. "And for the stores; most of the employees at the stores can not balance mass and weight. And they overcharge a lot. They use even 5 or 6 amulets when 2 are enough. And human medicine takes too long to kick in. A pain amulet is instantaneous."

"You can keep it, sweetie, it will last a week from now." Mom said to the FBI agent.

"Thanks, Ms. Morgan I could use it on the case I'm working on." She put it away in her purse.

"If you need to be a guy sometime, Rachel has a very good one. She used it to trap a woman carterist." Ivy remembered.

"It took me a week cooking all the things I needed, love." I sat next to her. Glenn was startled, seeing her in that dress. He still didn't know she was pregnant.

"Oh God, no wonder Rachel was so worried about you, covering you when she is not as strong as you, Ivy! You are expecting!" he blinked

"Yes." She nodded with a smug.

"Congratulations, Ivy!" he hugged her warmly. "So, now you are together, and you will give an heir to your line" He looked at me and then to her.

"Yes." This time I nodded with a big smile. We sat and ate the pizzas. Helen liked tomatoes, as Glenn did in his time, she was brave enough to tasted a bite and then

She couldn't stop until the pizza was over. She found the taste better than any other she knew until now. Glenn explained to her that inderlanders never stop eating tomatoes. Moreover, they were delicious cooked in so many ways and even fresh.

"I'm afraid Miss Caruthers is not going to talk. And since none of the people the demon was intended to kill is dead, most we can charge on her is attempt." Glenn said seriously. "She will get out paying a big bail."

"But she is in danger. Doesn't she understand that?" Cynthia asked concerned.

"It is her choice. Now she will have trouble being accepted in society. And if she continues to act like she does, she will end up dead herself. A black witch can not be blackmailed with secrets." Robbie shrugged his shoulders.

"She is at the door." Bis said from the cat's door in the kitchen door.

"Eh?" Glenn went with Erica to the door and they came back with a very scared and not so neat blond woman. Her clothes were a bit wrinkled, and her hair wasn't in the best shape.

"You have to help me!" she said as soon she laid eyes on me.

"Help you? You just sent a demon to kill us yesterday!" Ivy growled. I smelt something odd, and took a glass to fill it with salt water from my container, before my conscious mind could processed it; my second sight turned on and I could see the dark energy on her. I used a fork to collect the little twig trapped in her hair and the sulfur arose from the glass as soon I put the fork with the twig inside the salt water as a thick little cloud. Susannah had frozen when she saw me coming.

"Nasty bugger!" I extended my entire arm to let it dissipate, away from my nose and everybody's noses.

"It was a lethal curse." Cynthia announced showing the amulet going off.

"Oh, my God! They want to blame her death on me!" I stared at Ivy startled when I realized what just had happened, two seconds later.

"Now I have seen everything!" Helen shook her head. I opened the window to allow the bad odor to dissipate with fresh air. "That little twig was going to kill her?" she asked to mom.

"Yes, Helen. They can hide a lethal curse practically on anything. You have seen nothing yet." She was worried.

"Tell me about it, I was about to be blow up with a toothpick once. I'm afraid I warned you clearly, Miss Caruthers, black witches are not playing toys, now you are a target for the witch you hired. And now he or she wants you dead and me taking the fault." I frowned at her. "Why did you come here?" I asked angry.

"He told me that no one else would help me. I just…" she started to cry in despair, in fear.

"You wanted Claire's money. And you are endangering a lot of people." Ivy said in a cold tone. "You get out of here, and never come back. You made your own bed, now it is time to laid on it!" she was really angry, because she was very still.

"Ivy, I know you have all the reasons to be angry, this woman almost killed both of you and your baby. But now she is in danger and…" Glenn trailed off, knowing he would not find any sympathy right now in my vamp. "What we can do, Rache?" he turned to me.

"The thing is, Glenn. If I get involved I will be risking the lives of my family, my entire family, Ivy, our baby, mom and Don, Robbie and Cyn, and all our friends with us, you will be in danger too. I cannot do this. This witch surely has friends, black witches usually have covens, I cannot go into a war against a coven of black witches, we are expecting! A year ago, I wouldn't think about it, I just would had gone after the criminal, regardless the danger, but now I have to think in the safety of the innocent! I cannot go in wild chases of murderers. I want to know my baby! And I want her safe! A witch alone is no match for a coven, Glenn." I said very seriously. Ivy came to my back and hugged me by the waist. I covered her hands crossed over my belt's buckle with mine. She was proud of me, no doubt. I felt her kiss on my hair, over my temple.

"I have seen you take on five or six witches at the same time, Rachel!" he retorted frowning

"And I'm lucky to be alive! Then I was alone, I'm not alone anymore, Glenn. I have to look for my family first." I said in determined tone. "I'm sorry, but she has to go, and if you want your case, you convince her. But as far as I know, she is doomed. A demon has a claim on her soul and a black witch wants her dead. She is as good as dead already. Talking or not talking, she is going to die and you never will prove a single fault on the witch even if she talks, once dead, there is not witness nor proof. That's the way things have been since the beginning." I cocked my hips a bit, with a huff in the end.

Susannah fell on her knees sobbing pitifully. She was covering her face with her hands. She simply collapsed on the floor. A live image of fear, despair and hopelessness.

"Honey, you have grown so much!" Mom went to hug me too, by my side. "And as much we don't like the way the things are. There is only so much one can do. That's why you joined the IS in the first place, to caught the ones whom twist so bad the things. But you are right, now the innocent goes first." She backed up my decision with a concerned smile.

"Be careful, Glenn. You can not put her into custody, she paid her bail. And the people you assign to take care of her, they will be in lethal danger as well." Ivy said. "This is a very delicate situation. The witch will send a demon if he can't do a lethal curse. You will be endangering your career as well."

"Give me a name, Susannah!" Glen kneeled by her side, he was feeling pity.

"He said he will kill me. And no one would believe me." She sobbed again. "Hubert Nighy."

"Oh my God! That can not be." Helen shook her head. "Hubert Nighy is a leading member of the Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards!"

"I believe her. But I don't count, he shunned me." I chuckled. "Why am I not surprised, Ivy?" I turned my head to see her face, besides mine.

"Because they are dealing with demons, but they don't want anyone else doing it?" she asked me, still hugging me by the back.

"Doing it without their supervision." I nodded. "I don't know, I never used a demon to break the law, I used him to testify against the summoner that sent him to murder witches." I said. "And I have regretted big time that move since. But that is preoccupant, love. He sent Titus to kill us, because Titus would charge in the soul of Susannah, he saw the opportunity and he took it." I frowned. "And now we know it is in fact a coven. No way to win." I looked at Glenn. "And way they would fire you as soon you have said that name, Glenn."

"That is right, Matt. Hubert Nighy is a much respected witch in the city." Helen agreed with me up on that, with a frown "I don't like it more than you. But if it is true, then the city is in the hands of murderers and criminals." She shook her head. _In which world she lives? Wonderland? Well, most of the people don't know the truth, Trent Kalamack is in a public charge, and he's a drug lord and murderer, Rynn Cormel runs the underworld in Cinci, and he is a public hero, the IS is loaded with murderers with licenses to kill, and she doesn't have a clue!_ My opinion on her capabilities of observation dropped several points.

There were some knocks at the kitchen door.

"I got it, love." I said to Ivy, and she reluctantly let me go, Mom hugged her by the side, and both of them saw me walking to the door with proud smiles. _Maybe I'm growing fast, but I will not risk Ivy and the babies for a gold digger._ I said to myself, Susannah wasn't worth the risks.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: KH owns most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I'm adding some characters of my own. It's time for another odd character. We have a very long way ahead yet. Just be patient with me a little more, we will get to the point of the focus in the next chapters. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 11

I almost gasped when I opened the door. Renata and Claire were there with Jenks. The young were carried in her hands the wrapped box with the baby hanging mobile she bought for us yesterday. "Hi!" I just froze. _Better and better. This is the crappy story of your life, Rache, just when you think the situation is bad enough; the drama keeps improving. It was my fault. I was unnecessarily cruel when I explained the situation as it was to Glenn, in front of Susannah. _Of course, she just collapsed; she was already one nervous' wreckage when she arrived. She was expecting me to help her_. I just can't do it is too dangerous. I just can't!_ I felt guilty on some level. Glenn was our friend, and I would love to help him. _However, the risks are too many and too big. The Coven already had shunned me; they could do so much more. I just cannot go openly against them. They surely might hurt Ivy and our babies if I let my justice thirst unleashed in this one._

"Wow, is that you, Rache? How?" Rena kissed my cheek and I did the same in autopilot. They were wearing denim jeans and simple blouses like if they weren't planning on going out. Probably they liked to dress informally when they weren't working I knew the cook was informal. She was not dressing too differently from the outfit she was wearing now the first time I saw her.

"I told them you were in the back, and I led them to the door, Rachel. Tink's tities! What is she doing here?" he flew inside getting mad. "I just went to buy some seeds and you let coming inside to anyone!" he landed on the shoulder of Ivy, while red dust was pouring from him.

"Susannah!" Renata blinked seeing at the blond woman still crying on the floor with Glenn by her side trying to comfort her.

Claire passed by my side and kneeled at the other side of the woman. Susannah hugged her mumbling non-senses, clinging to her, crying like a baby. The cook was shocked and she tried to comfort her without success. The blonde simply was crying and she didn't make any sense with the few faltering words she could let out amongst sobs.

"What is happening?" Claire gazed at Ivy.

My vamp explained in few words the situation. Claire made the crying human get up and she sat her down on the chair Donald left to go with mom at the center island of the kitchen. It was an uncomfortable scene, we all knew the human had lied to, and rob from the cook. But the old witch cared for her genuinely. Despite the fact the stupid cookie had attempted to murder more than one person to get her claws into her fortune.

Renata sighed; she was feeling pity for the gold digger, but her main concern always would be for Claire. This could make Claire fall again for her. I held her waist with one arm and led her to Ivy. Next, I went to switch on the coffee machine. I filled a pot with water and put it to heat on the stove. I served the coffee to everybody and a big mug of tea for Susannah. Claire gave her the tea. My head went far away; the members of the Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards want me dead. They would not stop. And one of them sent Susannah with a lethal curse into my home. Surely that wasn't the only measure he took.

"Rache?" Ivy looked at me. "What is it, love?" she caressed my cheek with her thumb, getting close to me.

"I'm counting." I said absentminded.

"Counting what?" asked Glenn. He was still mad at us because we didn't want to help him on this case.

The doorbell rang, and I pointed up with one finger.

"How long the IS was taking to come." I answered him.

"The IS?" Helen blinked.

"Yes, Susannah was sent here with a lethal curse to die on my lap, Helen. Of course they have to send someone to arrest me for her death." I said "I'm thinking you were right, bro. I just should never have joined the IS." I saw Robbie and he came to hug me tightly, this situation was implicating a very tangible danger for me, and for my partner in life, and for our unborn girls.

"I'll get it." Glenn offered. Less than a minute later he was in the kitchen with two witches, a man and a woman. He dressed with a cheap brown suit and she with a casual short jacket and denim jeans. Both of them saw at me with contempt.

"We have a report from the neighborhood about some suspicious screams coming from here." He said.

"Sorry, but we have dinner here. And there wasn't a single noise in about 2 hours." Helen said with a frown. Pulling out her badge from her belt.

"Are you ok, madam?" the woman went near the still crying Susannah.

"No, I'm not ok. A black witch is trying to kill me." She said with a shaky voice.

"Who? This woman?" the agent pointed at me.

"She just saved my life; she is not a black witch. She told me I never should go to a black witch. I thought it would be different. I thought I could have everything I always wanted, and now…" she burst into tears and sobs again.

The smell of burnt amber came to my nose. My stomach clenched. _Another demon is coming, and my entire family is here, kitchen is not holly ground!_

"Mom, it would be for the best if you go into the living room, while this matter is solved. Please." I saw her. "Robbie, take Cynthia too. Ivy, you go too with Erica. Take Rena with you." I added without showing my concern.

"No one leaves!" the IS agent rose his voice bothered.

"No one is leaving, they are moving into the living room while you clear this. As far as I know, no crime has been committed in the premises, and you are harassing me in my own house!" I faced him with a bored grimace. That maybe put Ivy to think, that was a sign since I woke up from the coma.

"Please, come with me Rena, Claire, you too Rica." She walked towards the archway.

Donald went leading mom and Robbie took Cynthia's hand to walk there, sparing me preoccupied looks on his way to the living room. The two witches saw them leave with angry gestures. Claire didn't move. I searched into my pocket for my chalk. That perhaps alarmed Helen because she came close to me. I moved towards the sink to stay close to the edge of the circle drawn on the linoleum floor. I was planning to trap the demon inside it. Claire was rubbing her ex-girlfriend back in a soothing way, Helen came even closer to me and Glenn was in safe place at the table, standing at the other side of the blond cookie. The male witch moved into the archway, to keep an eye on my family and the woman was just behind Claire. Well, that was fine. No one on or inside my circle. The oddest thing happened next. There was two firm knocks before the door was pulsed normally, without expecting for an answer.

The kitchen's door opened, we never locked it, because to rob from a Tamwood was suicidal, besides we were not afraid from people that could be stall by a simple lock. A very tall man entered, he was huge, broad shoulders, big muscles, using a strange black leather vest; it was some kind of armor; like a roman general in the old movies. He had wild, shoulder length, curly, heavy, dark hair covering most of the eyes, red eyes like goat eyes. He wore leather tight fitting trousers, showing long and strong legs, the muscles were marked on the black leather, and he had wide wristbands made of metal covering half of his forearms. His skin was tanned, like sun-tanned, it seemed a healthy tan. He was using boots. His hands were huge. The demon almost reached the seven feet tall and he was massive. An ancient demon warrior was invading my kitchen. He had squared strong chin, obscured by the beard he had not shaved in the course of the past two or three days, the shadow of the mustache only made more attractive the full lips and the even teeth completing a rugged face. The face was a bit savage, but with a civilized smile upon it. The kind of loaded with testosterone macho type man, women dreamed off. I had the ultimate model for the covers of historic romance books standing in the middle of my kitchen.

This one was high level demon; no doubt, even Daly was low besides him. My stomach clenched. My heart skipped a beat; this one was at least as powerful as the very queen of the demons: Newt. My body could sense the dark icy power he concentrated on his body. It was overwhelming. Like if an active volcano was about to erupt just in front of my eyes. I couldn't see anyone else in the room. I knew the amulets on everybody were red. Therefore, they knew what this intruder was. I hoped no one tried to do anything. I hoped the stupid agents from the IS didn't make an idiocy like trying arrest him or me.

"Rachel Mariana Morgan." His eyes found me immediately. "Don't be scared, I'm here in peace." The really big calloused hands extended fully in front of him for a second. "I just knew about you. Newt and I never talk to each other, not since she killed my partner and with her, my unborn child." His voice was husky and grave, very manly. His diction was a bit harsh, like if the language was unfamiliar to him. He stepped towards me. I stepped towards him, my body reacting, but my hand still hidden inside my pocket. I stared at him, my heart was beating a normal rate, my breathing was normal, and I didn't changed. _Thank Heaven!_ "You can call me Juveuos." His smile was more than friendly, almost seductive.

I nodded; my face remained emotionless, his red eyes locked with mine for a moment. We were 3 steps away, I was looking up. The big warrior stared at me, checking me out head to toes, for a few seconds; like if he was evaluating me in some way. He laughed a sensuous manly laughter. _Definitely, he is in flirting mode, showing off his arts of seduction, not a bad job if he wasn't a demon that makes my stomach twist with nausea._

"I'm not disappointed, green eyes." He smiled again almost mischievously. _So he thinks I'm attractive enough_. _He already has a pet name for me. This is getting better already_! "Things have been so boring the last 5 thousand years. Little wars here and there, elves ran away like the coward lesser race they are. They're not worthy even for a decent hunt. Demons have grown lazy and embraced so much filthy habits. They are almost as worthless as elves right now. Our race is dying, Newt is as crazy as she must be after condemning us all to oblivion." His voice was rich in tones he went from despise to contempt, to hatred. It was an energetic voice, powerful even when his volume was normal. "I was waiting for the worlds to collide, auto-exiled from my own kind. But I heard things, curious things. Hope filled the madness of Newt. Hope is not a regular feeling for us." He smiled again. "I sent some spies to know what was happening. And the news they brought back with them were shocking." He crossed his powerful arms over his massive chest. "They screwed things up, like they have always done. They have spent too much time being impossibly cheap and stupid; they have forgotten the honor, the open fight, the emotion of doing straight deeds. They disappointed you, didn't they?" he was so confident, like if he could feel it, or read it on me.

I nodded again without a sound. "I'm not like them, Rachel. I don't want to harm you, on the contrary; I heard many things about you. For a little witch your age you have been busy, Rachel. Extraordinary people always cause envy. There is a coven after you, little one. And some others by their own. Problem is the filthy habits and the blindness and selfishness of my own kind. All of them know they are doomed, and they don't care about anyone else. So many will take contracts to kill you." He said concerned. "I don't want you dead, Rachel. I don't want your soul either, I have countless souls, I'm a warrior and I have fought many wars along my life. But I want something from you. You know what I want." He was deadly serious, but delicate enough not to put it on direct words. _Yes, he wants to knock me up; he wants me to have his demon babies._

"I know." I nodded coldly. He smiled again, the big hand extended towards me, but didn't touch me; he had advanced only one step closer to me. I didn't move; my face didn't show the revulsion I felt in my guts, twisting them almost painfully.

"I understand, you have no obligation to help me; and I don't want to force you to do it. I have my pride as you must have yours. That's why I'm offering you a deal. An advantageous deal for you. You and you only can summon me, at will, only by calling the name I gave you. For sure only one demon would dare to defy me. And you know her." He stepped back seeing nothing or no one but me. "You are in danger, Rachel Mariana Morgan, and with you, the fate of an entire race. You are surrounded by enemies, of many races, maybe Maeve is the worst, but she is just a vamp; without the demons she is nothing to you. You have to be in alert all the time. I will do nothing to corner you, Rachel. You have managed to do it on your own, maybe it was your fate, maybe it is another thing." Juveuos frowned pensive for a long moment. " I have passed entire millennia mourning and thinking why all of this happened. And we had it coming; it took very long time for me to realize that much." He said somber. "That's why I don't think the best is forcing you. You have the potential, but the will is just as important. The means will corrupt the outcome. I want to save my race. Nothing is more important to me. It will be my mission, my auto imposed mission from now on. And you are the key to do it, green eyes." He smiled again, being seductive and chivalrous. I sighed and look into his eyes; this was way too weird, a demon showing concern and chivalry? "When you summon me, then you are agreeing to give me what I want, in your free will." He said all confident. However, I couldn't let him have the wrong impression. What he wanted was simply impossible. I sighed tiredly, gathering my nerve; he would kill me in a heartbeat if he knew, although I had a hunch. If I didn't let the things clear right now, he would feel betrayed, take offense and I was dead for sure. He had to know the truth.

"Look, you haven't heard all about me, Juveuos." I withdrew my hand off my pocket and showed it to him, holding it in front of me with the back towards him. The demon gasped bewildered, locking his eyes on the marks of my hand. I wasn't attacking at him. My clothes covered all the other marks. I chose a shirt with turtle neck and long sleeves to wear. So only on my hand he could see them. I knew I was dead the moment I touch him. He was way too powerful for me. And I didn't know my own limits. _Turn it! I almost died last night against a lower demon! I'm no match for a warrior class demon! I don't have to touch him to know it._ But I had a hunch. This demon was different from the ones I met until now. "Ivy?" I called in normal voice. She was in the archway, watching the whole thing, and she was utterly displeased. Anybody could see the demon was trying to seduce me and she was a vamp. For my Ivy I was hers and nobody could try to romance me but her. She didn't doubt on me, she just hated the fact that demon were flirting with me, even if I was indifferent to his efforts. "Would you come a moment, dear?" I asked in a very casual tone. There was no danger that I could feel. She stepped into the kitchen, walking straight to reach me. Ivy also was worried because she had already guessed this was a demon as no other we had met before. Ivy was afraid he could attack at me, because I wasn't reacting at him the way he intended. Right now, my Ivy's eyes had only a rim of brown, a very thin rim.

The big warrior took one glance at her, and he knew. I could see he was aware of everything that happened in my life and Ivy's life since the night I made that spell. She was pregnant, showing her condition off for the first time in a dress designed to flaunt that very fact. She intertwined her long fingers with my marked ones. She was a bit tense. _But she rather dies with me, than get saved._ He blinked once, twice, three times. Then he took a step aside, his eyes fixed on the floor, his face torn between amazement and shock. I went to the coffee machine and served a pair of mugs of coffee. Ivy went with me and let my hand go for the little task, seeing at me quizzical. "That would do it, Ivy. Get to the living room; everything is going to be fine." I asked her calmly.

"No." she said softly but determined.

"What is happening here, who he is?" the male witch asked. _He is an asshole if he doesn't know a demon when he sees one. He has to feel him._

Juveuos frowned and his jaws tensed a bit, he stood in all his impressive stature; his enormous hands moved in complicated ley line invocations. It just took him a pair of seconds before turned on the stupid warlock.

"You two, get out of here, you will report to your superior a false call was made, you didn't find a clue of the human, the human doesn't exist or have ever existed. You are embarrassed for intruding into a family reunion with an excuse that made you the joke of the FBI agents." The demon instructed with his manly and modulated voice in an order whilst the big hand made a pass over the two IS witches, they went all stiffened and then their faces were all silly grins as they walked out like zombies. "You two had a good time, get laid, and joke about the stupidity of the clowns of the IS. Go." Glenn and Helen follow their paths, the same the IS agents were. "You, you don't exist, you go back to the old life you had, with the little gain you have left. No one will kill you unless you open your mouth about your identity again." Juveuos pointed to Susannah. And she left. "You, you go with the other witches and the little vamp and were, and get a nap." He ordered Claire, whom obeyed as well._ Crap on toast! He was aware of every single being around him the entire time! Even when he seemed absolutely focused on me! _ "You can stay, master pixie." He shrugged his broad shoulders. Jenks landed on my shoulder. _Where had he been?_ "And you as well, being the new partner of the little reaper." He looked appreciatively at my vamp. "You have good taste, no doubt. She is a fine female." He smiled and took the mug I offered him. I had walked towards him while he was emptying the kitchen. "Thanks." He tasted it with evident pleasure. "Oh, what a pity, this could work better than I thought! Straight coffee, just the way was meant to drink it!" he seemed very pleased. "Flavored coffee is for pansies." He stated with evident disdain.

I blinked; maybe every demon I knew so far was a pansy. Surely looked like that if I compared them with this devastating demon. Minias was so delicate in some way, and Al so playful. This was the essential macho demon. Even Daly wasn't more than a boy by his side.

"So, you want to save your race, that is understandable, Juveuos. Now you must know that is impossible for me to do." I said to him, leaning on the counter, with one arm around the waist of Ivy, she passed her arm over my shoulders; being a vampire meant being territorial; she had to show in some way I was hers.

"No, Rachel, my hope remains, you somehow stumbled onto elemental magic, and you are having heirs. Very few are gifted to handle that kind of power. Being a woman and you managed to impregnate another woman; that never happened before; so you are more special than I thought at the beginning. Those heirs will give more heirs to your line, you can not help passing the blood you have, and your line is the hope for my race." He said thoughtful. "Maybe no demon can touch you without dying or kill you, but in time, your heirs will have more heirs, and at least one of them will save my race." He mused aloud. "I can not have right away what I want. But know this, I will protect your line; no matter if you slaughter demons, most of them will be asking for it. You became a reaper, reapers are a design of nature to balance the worlds, and you can not help your new given nature. You know you can not defeat me. You're too young and not fully mature as reaper. I have killed three of them fully mature. And there are ways of losing your power too; I don't know how, dough. I've seen reapers dying by themselves when they lost their way. Be careful and don't get cocky or you can kill yourself as easily as you can kill lesser demons. You killed Titus, didn't you?" he asked almost amused now.

"Yes." I nodded.

"That's alright; he was a rotten maggot, almost all traders are. Well, be careful, Newt won't be pleased when she finds out what had happened to you." He left the empty mug on the counter. "Call me if she tries to kill you. And if some demon takes your heirs, call me. I'm convinced that the way of saving our race is not by force. One of your heirs will see we can be like any other race, and we can love too. One will fall in love with a demon, maybe not me, but it has to be for love, or we are doomed." He said seriously. "That is what the others don't want to see. We have to be worthy of being saved as race, and they're only going into a spiral of corruption and cheating; condemning us all. I want to have heirs myself and honorably become a father. I will never rape one of your kids, never." Juveuos promised proudly. "I will conquer one fairly. Even if I have to wait for millennia." He smiled with that appealing self confidence. "Be careful, Rachel. I will not ask for anything in return if you summon me. I just want the opportunity for saving my race even from the other members of it." He vanished from there.

"Tink's tities! That was something!" Jenks hovered in front of our faces. "And he is so full of himself. He loves his voice for sure." He laughed out of tension, relaxing a lot. He was very aware of the real danger we were at.

"Do you trust him?" Ivy asked me.

"I wouldn't call you to come if I had sensed danger. Something told me I had to be honest with that demon, Ivy. He could kill me only by grabbing me by the marked arm. This one is as powerful as Newt herself. I think he was very honest with us too." I said pensive.

"Creepy! A hung demon is going to court our babies!" she frowned, disgusted with the sole idea of that happening. I hugged her. "The worst part he is charming on his own way." She embraced my body and squeezed it a little too hard. Ivy was jealous!

"For most women, but all demons made my stomach clench with nausea since I woke up from the coma, babe." I reassured her "Although that is the ultimate bad boy, I hope the babies have more brains and better taste than I used to have." I sighed. "But I don't think any of the others will have a memory of him. Only us." I pulled away a bit from her to see her face "He could do a memory spell in us as well, and he didn't. The amulets didn't work because he didn't use anything lethal. And last night your protection didn't work because the attacks weren't magical, but physical. I have to do serious improvements on everything, love!" I clenched my jaws displeased, I couldn't plan properly, I was being too naïve, and not taking every possibility in consideration. _I still have too much to learn and to mature as reaper._

"That's ok, we have enough problems as it is. And he got rid of Susannah." Ivy said "And the IS agents, even if they don't like it. Would the coven know?" she asked worried.

"I don't think so, Juveuos erased her from existence as Susannah Caruthers, but obviously she had a previous identity. She is erased of the memory of everybody, including Hubert. Maybe the scandal disappeared as well. I hope so, honey. But there is a way to know right away. Let's go to the living room with coffee and canapés, if Rena and Claire don't remember Susannah, then all the problem had vanished."

I proposed to her. It was blood-chilling somehow. It was my first time to witness such a curse. Susannah being erased so easily, because no one remembered her, or Titus, like if the events of the night before never happened. That could happen to any of us if the coven were willing to pay the price.

We enjoyed a very pleasant evening, Renata and Claire didn't seem to recall more than the service we provided for them, and Claire told us a bit of her adventures in the searching for knowledge. Forbidden knowledge as she accepted, she was an erudite on many sciences and lines of magic as well, Cynthia was ecstatic, Claire knew about many legends and she experienced many dangerous things along her life. Renata was very surprised to know her mother was as adventurous as the cook, and they met each other in a jungle chase for a treasure in behalf of the were, and for a spiritual medicine woman in Claire's behalf. The cook and the were promised to visit us again.

My family said good bye, and Cynthia promised to send us copies of the diaries. They went to California happy for the new babies. I promised mom to phone her every other day. She hugged Ivy motherly and asked her to be careful while she was expecting. Ivy was overwhelmed when mom kissed her cheeks. Now she was convinced Ivy could make me happy, and I could do the same for her. We had a little chat, mother to daughter, before the farewells. Donald hugged me and kissed my cheeks; and Robbie was still unconvinced, but he decided not to pain us with his opinions. Cynthia cried a bit, she was so open, so caring. I told Robbie she was definitely the keeper he flaunted so much his last visit. And I asked him and Don to take good care of their ladies.

Ivy and I had a very serious chat with Erica as well, she was learning the very truth of my actual condition, and neither of us wanted Rynn to know, or even their parents. There was a mole in the camarilla, and we can not trust in anyone. Ivy told her she was afraid of losing me, if the Master Vamps decided I was too much of a risk or a trophy they wanted. As well the other witches would attempt to kill me out of envy or fear. Moreover, we had to protect our babies as well. The young vamp showed us she was growing and swore to us her lips were sealed. She loved so much her big sister, and she was getting very fond to me.

We went to bed tired and pensive. Ivy rested her head on my pillow to see right into my eyes. Her hand roamed over my abdomen, under the sheet but not under my pajama shirt.

"Are you sad?" she asked me.

"I miss mom being close. I didn't appreciate her enough when I could reach her without effort. Anyway, it is better that she is far away. Now is too dangerous for all of them being close to me." I said honestly letting my closest hand to wander over her side.

"I've heard you talking to her in the garden, Rache. I shouldn't, but…" she trailed off; her eyes were all brown and moved. Her voice sounded a bit tremulous, she smiled at me apologetic.

"Vampiric hearing, you couldn't avoid it, it is ok, Ivy." I cajoled her.

"I love you, Rachel Morgan!" she kissed my lips softly.

"I adore you, Ivy Tamwood." I locked my eyes on hers, composing a straight face. "We have to talk, dear." I caressed her cheek with a thumb. "And this is important." She got all serious.

"About what?" she angled her arm to rest her head on her hand and saw at me from a bit above.

"Our babies' names!" I said and I laughed at her startled face. "We hadn't talk about that. We're having two baby girls, and we have to name them, honey."

"Don't scare me like that, dear!" she warned me slipping over me easily to lie atop of my body. I let her nibbling my neck, playful.

"Ivy, surely you have thought of several names for the babies. I would really like to hear about that. "I gave her some room exposing that side of my neck for her.

"Well, I like some, but I don't know. Oh, Rache, you smell so good." She purred against my pulse point, over the scar she left the last time, her tongue tasted the length of the borders she left on my skin.

"You can bite me, love. The potion replenished my blood." I stroked her back.

"Are you sure?" she sounded a bit excited. "I just bit you two nights ago, and I took too much." She kissed me on the recent scar and she used her arms to pull away and have a full view of my face.

"Completely." I passed my hands by her ribcage, giving her a smug.

"May I have this, love?" she asked the ceremonial question, quiet and fondly.

"Yes, dearest. I'm yours. You don't have to ask, Ivy."

"Yes, I have to, Rachel. Because I love you and I respect you I have to ask. See, it is a way we restrain ourselves from hurting the ones we love. If you are not well, or if you are mad at me, or anything; it is a way for you to state what's in your mind, and for me to be aware, not giving in into the bloodlust; my instincts always are haunting me, dear. And the desire for blood is too strong inside me. Of course I'm in control, but it took a lot of time and endless efforts for me being able to." Ivy explained. "Being my Scion, I have to teach you some of our traditions and the way the vamp society works." She said "We have time."

"But I want to talk about the babies, love. How do you like to name them?" I insisted on the subject of my interest.

Of course we ended playing, teasing each other and talking about baby names, which was to easy to win due to the fact we could hear them while Ivy was taking my blood. We didn't reach any agreement on the matter. _We were having _o_nly two babies and there were so many beautiful names to choose!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: KH owns most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. We have a very long way ahead yet. Just be patient with me a while, we're just getting to the point of the focus in the next chapters. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 12

The next day we received a visit from Ceri. The blond elf wanted to talk very seriously with me. She lived in ever after a whole millennium, and she knew things no one else could know. She was alone this time. She said she excused going to the church to escape from the close surveillance of Trent. She was using a disguise, she made with no effort. She was so good at magic. I made some tea for us. Ivy was present as well, and Jenks, and Matalina.

"Jih told me what she saw, I made her tell me; and I haven't repeated her words. Please don't think she's betraying you." She began the serious chat looking at the pixies. Jenks took a deep breath, the desertion of Jax was a thorn in his side; it always would be. Matalina took his hand and they both nodded. The beautiful green eyes locked on me then. "Rachel!" she sighed and her hand moved over the table to hold my marked hand. "How did you become a reaper?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, Ceri. I made a rare spell I found. It left me in a coma. When I woke up, after six months, Al came to claim me and he pretended take me to Newt." I said slowly.

"Al hasn't been seen since you woke up. Did you kill him?" she asked almost hopeful.

"Sorry, daytime saved him. He escaped, Ceri." I frowned "I know he will be back and when he does, he will be prepared to kill me, or he will send black witches loaded with lethal curses against me and all my friends. That's why I asked you not to help him anymore; he would do anything to force you to kill me or he would hurt or kill you and your baby if you don't agree to do it." I said preoccupied, my concern for them was very real.

"Then you haven't killed a demon so far?" she asked me interested. Ceri knew the truth only by my guilty face. "Rachel!" She looked at me attentively. She felt concerned by my state of mind. She knew Newt and the reason for her madness.

"Yes." I nodded. "No, I'm not crazy yet!" I sighed. Ivy hugged my shoulders at my side. "He was a trader; I stumbled in his way when he was trying to collect a soul, it was a sort of an accident. Titus was his name." I explained. Ceri nodded. She kept thinking in silence whilst she continued sipping her tea. We let her be. She was very reserved most of the time. Not to mention, the news must be shocking, as a friend of mine, and as an elf. Her race was slaughtered by demons; and nowadays most elves didn't know that demons could be killed. On some level, probably she was feeling some kind of satisfaction that there was one demon less messing with this world, and I did kill him.

"Now you are real partners, eh?" she smiled seeing our rings, when I intertwined my fingers in Ivy's fingers.

"Yes, we are." I leaned my head on Ivy's shoulder. My vamp kissed my hair. "What am I, Ceri? Am I a renegade demon?" I asked blushing. I wasn't convinced yet of my true condition. I had demon blood running through my veins after all.

"No! Demons cannot turn into reapers." She locked her eyes with mine reassuring. It was very rare when she was so passionate to say anything. She settled down immediately and she smiled again at us. "They don't know exactly what kind of beings reapers are. Many demons believed they were like monsters. However, now I think reapers are witches, witches that have found some kind of affinity with the elements. That marks seemed to be representing the elements with its colors, Rachel. Elemental magic is a legend; it has been a legend since I was born over a millennium ago." She said quietly. "Elemental magic is wild, raw, and too powerful; it is completely unknown to me." She squeezed my free hand over the table fondly. "I heard some legends though, legends that today nobody else repeats. My people knew about the reapers. When the war was at its worst, sometimes they heard fights and found ashes, demon ashes or demons totally insane and sickened stuttering about smut and punishment and the reapers. You have lost all the smut in your aura, Rachel. When did that happen?" she asked interested.

"It happened when she did the spell to save Jenks and me, Ceri. She still had smut when she woke up, as well as when she fought with Al, but when I saw her right after she did that spell, her aura was all clean and shiny, Jih noticed first. But there was no smut for that spell either; even when she was extending our lives against the laws of nature." Matalina said landing on the table, between us. Ivy got close to her a silver fingertip with watered honey. She smiled to Ivy before taking a little sip.

Ceri nodded. She smiled again at us when Ivy moved, and I stroked her belly; I couldn't help it. I really liked touching her and Ivy was so comfortable and so sated with that fact; she had never complained about that yet.

"What's in your mind, Ceri?" she asked taking a brownie from the little basket filled with freshly baked sweets I put on the table before we sat down at it.

"Is it true some low vamp raped you and left you pregnant, Ivy?" she asked.

"How everybody knows that version?" my vamp frowned and bit the brownie, blushing. Ceri chuckled shaking her head in negation.

"So it's not the truth." She left her cup on the table.

"No, the babies are mine, Ceri. The spell I found was for granting a wish to a dying person. I meant it for saving Ivy's soul when she was dying. Only that she asked for a baby with me." I made a goofy grin.

"That is almost impossible to achieve. A granted wish would require a payment too large." She said cautiously.

"It required my life, Ceri." I gazed at her eyes; the green orbs went wide open.

"Elemental magic always requires the sacrifice of the invoker!" she muttered "And you didn't sacrifice yourself?" she asked in shock.

"Yes, she did. I saw her dead by my side; and I wished for a lifetime with her as equal life partners, with a baby of our own." Ivy said slightly blushed again. That was an unusual desire for a vamp. Ceri blinked astonished.

"So, Rachel killed herself to grant you a wish, thinking you would wish to keep your soul after dying your first death, and you asked for the two of you to live as a couple, with a child?" she asked to be sure. Ivy nodded. "My God, you managed to cheat on elemental magic!" she was simply baffled.

"There was not cheating at all, Ivy didn't know the conditions, I asked her to keep wishing to preserve her soul, there was no time for explanations, Ceri. Then I did what I had to do. So, if she wished for an entirely different thing it wasn't because I coaxed her, or in any kind of agreement." I objected.

The blond elf laughed delightedly. After few moments, she studied the both of us getting serious.

"So, you did die, then you revived, and you spent half of the year in a coma, and you woke up in better shape, a stronger witch than ever before?" she looked into my eyes. I only nodded.

"Well, my people found some elemental spells along the millennia, but no elf could perform any of them. They found a witch capable, about the time when I was a baby. My father had to do with that. It was a man. He made the spell, and he killed himself to avenge his family, slaughtered by a demon. Nothing happened; at least my father believed that, until 16 years later he saw again the dead witch, marked as you are marked, the witch was fighting a demon. Regrettably, the witch died in that fight, after killing the demon. He fell very ill, and burst from inside out with a magical energy overload." She told us. "The demon was a high demon, very powerful. He was much like Al. So it's fair saying that killing a lesser demon, like Titus is doable, without too harsh consequences for your mental health, and your physical resilience has a lot to do with it. But to kill a higher demon, could be potentially lethal for you." She rationalized the situation.

"I think that is correct, I felt I was losing my mind when I was attacking to Al. However, with the other, I just felt the beating he gave me. Afterwards, I just passed out, and woke up with even more marks than the first ones." I shrugged my shoulders.

"More marks?" she stared at my hand.

"Yes, more marks. At first, there were just a leg from the foot to the knee, one arm, from the elbow to the hand, and most of my back. After Titus, both thighs, and the upper opposite arm were marked as well." I omitted the private parts of the list. "So, you think I should avoid higher demons, at risk of blowing myself away?" I asked her.

"The thing is higher demons will know from Al that you are a reaper, and they will hunt you down, at risk of losing one. That would be better than lose all the traders. They might make a commission to kill you, Rachel." She sounded very worried. "But there were some stories about reapers; two in the past millennium I overheard casually. One became insane, and he was slaughtered by Daly. That's why he got such a prominent position. And another one that killed herself when a spell for transforming a demon into a tree failed in the middle of the spell; maybe it was too much for her capabilities." She shrugged her shoulders. "Newt used to get real mad when she heard about reapers. Therefore, not many talked about those things. Al will want revenge, that's for sure. It sounds very unlike him not to apply any retaliation by now." She sighed.

"I think it was for the spell, Ceri." I said quietly.

"What spell?"

"The one I did to rejuvenate Mattie and Jenks. I took almost all the curses Al had with him that day and I was about to burst, just like you said it happened to the witch your father found, but then the spell came to my head, Ivy and the Kids helped me to do it. When I made that spell, the overload of magic subsided almost entirely, and I'm guessing this. Where the smut went? I think Al took it against his will, because those were his curses." I said pensive. The elf took a loose strand of blond hair and put it behind her ear, with a thoughtful grimace on her face. She drank her tea in silence.

"If that happened, then Al is very ill or even unconscious until now. A spell that provides practically a half lifetime to someone, in this case two people would kill even strong familiars with the smut alone. Maybe a demon can take it, but not without consequences to his health. But, if you could reap Al's magic off; then you are capable of surviving even higher demons, Rachel." The elf said cautious again, and she kept studying me with those wise eyes for several minutes. Probably she was wondering how far I could go. How much power I could handle? If I was capable of stealing all from Al and not dying with the overload, surely I was much more dangerous than she considered me so far. She must knew first hand the quantity of Al's magical arsenal; she was forced to do thousands of spells and curses for him for a thousand years.

"But Al made you live an entire millennium, Ceri. What are six or seven years in comparison?" asked Ivy.

"Rachel lost the smut when she did that spell, and she passed it to Al, hopefully, and not to his new familiar." Ceri avoided the question of my vamp.

"Oh my God, did I kill Pierce?" I felt guilty.

"No, you didn't, I saw him here when you were out with your family. A demon captured him. It was too fast, almost like he was waiting for him to show." Said Matalina," he didn't have a chance to speak. I didn't go out holy ground, too much risky. I thought was unimportant, because it wasn't the first time he escaped from Al. Afterwards, you were injured when you got home, so I decided not to mention it, then I forgot it." She excused.

"Well, I don't know how the elemental magic works. I cannot say, but you are right in your fears. Al will come back. Be careful, Rachel. I will try to keep Al away; I hope all the protections are enough. Now I have a son, and I don't want him in danger."

"Exactly the way we feel about ours." I nodded. "Ceri, please don't say any of this to Quen. He will tell Trent. I don't need Trent's plays on me right now." I said concerned.

"Don't worry, this is between us exclusively, that's why I will use the disguise to return to the cathedral. You are right because Quen is bound to inform Trenton. Regrettably, Trenton has much to learn before he could be entrusted with secrets like this. However, he still is very much interested in you, so be careful." She insisted.

"You too, Ceri."

I wasn't being completely honest with Ceri; however, I bit my tongue more than once not to say other things. I still wasn't totally bound to Ivy when I fought Al. I was her shadow, but the very morning of the day I killed Titus, that morning we connected magically, and the day before we started to use the rings, also bound to each other. I wasn't feeling the same with Al, and I really believed that Ivy was my secret weapon. Her soul reinforcing mine made me resistant to the consequences of the magic. Ivy didn't feel the effects because she wasn't a witch. That was keeping my mental health safe. As for the reaping, Al was carrying far more curses, spells and charms than Titus. Regarding the marks, the new ones, they were different from the first ones. They looked the same, but they felt different. I was now expecting new marks every time I encountered a different demon. Maybe the kind of demon was everything to do with it.

I started to have restless dreams, dreams I didn't remember a thing about in the morning, but Ivy was a light sleeper, and I talked during my dreams, she told me I chatted a lot with the babies, and I mumbled the weird gibberish of Babylonian language time to time, without making magic. As if I had a night tutor inside my head, making me memorize lessons.

Erica was a constant presence in the church; she helped us to redecorate my old room, to be the nursery room. We put new painting coats, new furniture, cradles, racks for toys; we changed the lights, the drapes. We remodeled the entire room, and we added a couch, which could be turned into a bed. Erica stayed there many nights, she was at least entertained with us, and the more time she passed with us, the less time Rynn could try to get our secrets out of her. _After all, she is still very innocent in some ways, and she still trusts in the undead, which Ivy knows better._

Glenn and David helped us as well with the new office in the front. The news was indeed scandalous; the firm was sued by most of their clients. Anyway, there wasn't a single mention of Susannah; she was erased from everyone else's memory. Only Jenks, Ivy and I could remember her and the fight with Titus. We added a visitors little bedroom. Just in case, with twin beds.

Renata and Claire visited us several times, and helped gladly when we were decorating or working over the new rooms. The audit to their accounts finished within a month. The quantity of money the firm had defrauded from them along almost 20 years was enough to buy a private island and built an entire little luxurious hotel on it. 38 million dollars. They came with a check equal to the five percent we agreed. Suddenly we have almost two million dollars in the bank; Ivy made the taxes immediately, and she sent the respective checks. At last, we still have more than a million and a half despite the costs of the modifications and the new rooms. We planned for buying a family vehicle. We would soon have two little babies and a Ferrari did not have the space to place the special baby-seats; and for the entire paraphernalia of riding with babies plus our groceries and other shopping lists would be larger.

Ivy was gaining weight at a constant rate, and her belly grew faster. Other changes to her body bothered her at first, her breasts and nipples grew a bit larger, her areolas slowly were changing becoming wider and bigger, darkening a bit, as her body began to prepare to breast-feed our babies. Moreover, her hormones went crazy; she was in a sex frenzy. We made love every single night and we had brief but heated sessions of quick releases in the middle of the day. I was exhausted. Sometimes she was emotional, and she needed tenderness, and others she was a hungry panther looking only for raw sex. Both of that could happen within frames of only minutes, not necessarily in that order. She didn't need the potion anymore, the morning sickness was gone, and she had a very healthy appetite for food. Her blood lust was strong but in check, we agreed for her to bite me every 4 or 5 days, and we both enjoyed the babies' noises, their feelings were more complex and the communication was stronger, every time we shared blood. Of course, our conversations for choosing names continued every time too.

I began to train again, sparring with Erica; Ivy was a very exigent and demanding teacher to her. The young vamp wanted to be prepared for anything, so she didn't complain and I was learning very good moves, and I began to use weapons too. Both vamps were amazed when I had no trouble managing a sword. Ivy said I was a natural. Although, I knew better, this was a part of the reaper thing, I couldn't handle a sword without slicing my own throat before the coma. Ceri told us the elves heard fights now and then, and Juveuos was a warrior, I still could remember his calloused enormous hands. Hands used to hold weapons. After my lover and her sister were satisfied with their evaluation on my new ability, Ivy asked me to practice with two knives. They were like army knives, only a bit shorter, and delicate. It turned out I was better with the knives, so, Erica kept the sword and even though I was getting the worst part almost every time, I was advancing in my capabilities of physical attacking and defense. Being Ivy's Scion I had to be able to defend myself physically, not only by using magic. By me, that was perfect; I still had in very high opinion the words of Quen; he said that I didn't rely only on magic and that made me better than most of witches, because most only relied on their magic capabilities. Experience proved him right, I only survived that death sentence from the IS, because the witches at the bus station weren't prepared for a physical attack, punching one with my fists saved me that time. That wasn't the only occasion that punching or kicking another witch had saved my life. However, keeping up with vamps was tough. My body was getting a bit trimmer and that was a proud matter for me now. Ivy liked me strong and I discovered that if I felt aroused every time she showed her real strength she felt the same about me. It wasn't a coincidence that our most heated sex sessions happened to occur in the bathtub after the trainings or after my sessions of spelling for protections or new batches of charms.

Erica was teasing me half of the time, and she was curious too. She found it very sweet of me to be continuously flattering Ivy. However, for me, she was stunning, and I was madly in love with her. I hated when Ivy felt unattractive and Jenks was always pointing out the way she was losing her figure as her belly grew. Even Erica used to tease my beloved partner when she overate. I figured that if pregnant vamps were much cherished and appreciated because the decreasing population of living vamps they were very much sexually frustrated as well. Vamps are very attractive people, and they didn't like feeling or being different from that. Pride was a very important vamp feature too (especially on the members descending from high bloodlines); and a pregnant vamp would prefer not having sex at all than seeing the slightest dislike towards her body on her husband or lover. In addition, by the comments from her little sister, I knew Ivy was behaving very differently to the general pregnant vamp; at least about sex life and blood habits. I didn't feel like a pervert for wanting to be with her in that way. I enjoyed every day, every little change on her. This was the only time we had to be expecting, and I lost entire six months of it. I didn't want to miss anything else.

Weeks went by without news on any front and they turned into months. The pixies moved inside the church when the cold weather began, before I could process it December began, and we were planning for a family solstice reunion, we were only 3 weeks away. Rynn still hadn't had answers from Borgia, or news on the books, of course he knew about the legend, the corrected one. We even gave him a copy when Cynthia sent us by e-mail the scanned copies of her family chronicles. He was very excited by that. He had a team looking for the books as well. The quarrels amongst camarillas kept the same. The scandal for the discovery of the firm robbing the cook cooled off, and we were enjoying our little retirement in family. The money wasn't a problem, and I had everything I could possibly want inside the church. I worked almost on a daily basis in the garden, planting and harvesting herbs until the weather didn't allow me to continue. When that happened, a new exciting way to pass the time came up from an unexpected source.

Claire Britt was a very skilled ley line witch and during her visits, she taught me a bunch of spells. The cook had a very rough time defending my reputation, and she lost a TV contract. Strangely, she wasn't upset about that. She was still writing her recipe books, and now she was having a lot of time to spend with Renata and for dusting off her witchcraft. Renata commented to us that Claire was very happy cooking spells again. The young were was happy for her; the overload of work had been affecting them both, and now they were recovering the lost time, doing mother – daughter stuff.

I found myself able to protect the windows of the entire church the way Trent had in his compound, with a coat of ley line energy, and I even put one inside the walls, hidden from sight. Thanks to the private lessons the cook gave me. She was very excited passing her knowledge on to a witch and Claire was far more patient than Ceri. Renata said she saw me as an adopted sister because Claire loved me as another daughter. They kept in communication with my mother as well, giving her the news on Ivy and me. Claire was very surprised when I explained to her the way I used the splat gun for shooting sleepy charms. She said that could have been very helpful to her when she was an adventurer. She always had an anecdote to tell, and her stories were something all of us enjoyed, from Renata to the pixies. All the pixies loved Claire; she continuously brought presents for them: seeds, flowers, mushrooms, things they enjoyed and treasured.

Mom was very happy, I fulfilled my promise and I called her every two days, she used to have a little chat with Ivy in the middle of ours, to check on her personally.

Our friends visited us in regular basis. Glenn was getting serious with Helen. David was stalling our chat about the pack, uncomfortable with the idea of stressing a pregnant vamp.

Ivy and I were never apart more than few steps. Almost all the time we rested, we were in each other arms. When I was working on the garden, Ivy and Erica took some sun on the porch. When I was cooking, Ivy was at her laptop on the table. When we cleaned, we both worked in the same room at the same time. When Claire and Rena visited us, Rena and Ivy observed the lessons the witch taught me with great interest, and they celebrated the successes and even my failures with laughter and jokes. Erica joined them when she was with us. Claire was a very skilled earth witch as well, and her potions were incredibly strong. She made one for Ivy once. Thanks to that potion the little problems with her liquid retention were over before becoming an issue to her comfort. Not to mention the cook was teaching me cooking recipes and the meals when she was present were simply delicacies.

We were having a honeymoon, maybe with less privacy than we wished for, but we were happy around each other and our friends. Nevertheless being so close, having the most various pillow talks, I felt more complete than ever before. My favorite moments with Ivy were the first minutes and the very last minutes from every day. Whether I woke up first and I was able to see her by my side, when I could watch her sleeping, Ivy seemed so sated, peaceful and she was mine. Or if I woke up to find her staring at me, with a silly grin on her face, ( silly grins I was only able to see on her since the first time she bit me and I didn't hide the scars her fangs left on my neck.) On the other hand were the precious moments every night before sleeping when we were moving against each other looking for the most comfortable position to rest.

Ivy was confident in us like a couple, and I frequently did what she said once. I kicked myself repeatedly in my mind; I had deprived Ivy and me of this perfection out of ignorance, fear and plain stupidity for so long, I could never forgive myself for being so blind. I adored my vamp. My Ivy was happy having me. I was a lucky witch because my sweet vamp had endured through all my blindness and stupid fears. I was the luckiest witch on the entire world, no doubt.

Ivy was becoming very strong, stronger than ever in her own words. My blood nourished her in ways she never thought possible. She exercised as well, keeping her body fit, despite the pregnancy. Now every night I was spooning her, the size of her belly was almost double than the day I woke up. Robert insisted she had to take a full medical check up. Kimberly was also concerned about that. Ivy was expecting twins, and having one baby was stressful enough for vamps. One medical appointment was planned like it was the taking of a city during a war, for me that seemed a bit like overkill, but I didn't say a word about it. All of them liked to plan as much as they loved to drink blood.

Rynn Cormel was in the kitchen, sharing coffee and pie with us, after the monthly dinner he had with us. He came to inform us about the last developments in the war, which turned out to be none, and he stayed to receive a briefing about the plans for the medical checkup for Ivy; when David arrived. My alpha male was quite uncomfortable, and dead serious.

"What happened, David?" asked Ivy concerned the moment she saw at him.

"A challenge has been made, Ivy." He answered with an angry grimace. "Finley found a were that wants to be my alpha bitch and she is claiming right of ascension." He huffed annoyed. "The man simply doesn't get it. I don't want pups; I don't want to impregnate an alpha bitch." He gestured bothered. His anger wasn't addressed at any of us. He walked a little path forward and backwards to calm down. Then he faced the vampires. "I apologize. I lost my temper." He said to Rynn and Ivy's parents in a polite manner. "May I have a word with you, Rachel?" he asked with a resigned expression.

"We can talk here, David. You know I don't keep secrets from Ivy. Please, sit down; I'll get you some pie and coffee." I smiled to him. Rynn Cormel didn't like when we turned him down. He was a master vamp. Most of them had god complex, and he wasn't an exception to the rule.

David sighed. He knew the implications. We had little chats while he was helping me place the furniture in the new office and the new bedroom.

"Thanks, Rachel." He took a bite of the pie. "Your mom is right; your cooking is improving every day." I smiled to him in recognition for the compliment. "I don't like it, Rachel, but since I have a pack, I'm compelled to follow the rules. Even if I don't like it. So Rache, it's up to you accepting the challenge, but if you don't, then there could be some very mortifying repercussions." He told me, worry creasing his eyebrows. "I know it's too much to ask. A witch is not strong enough to beat a were. The news of your challenge in the island became legend, and there are many curious to see a witch that can were. They said you were a red wolf, one red wolf is according to the legends the rightful owner of you know what. However, I know Finley; I'm sure his candidate is a monstrous were. I can't ask you to fight her, because they want you dead. She surely has instructions to go straight for your neck and rip your throat out." He said frowning. "But if you don't accept the challenge, then the pack gets compromised, and Serena is a bit, well, she has embraced the life of a were very enthusiastically, and.." he trailed off, with a red face.

"And she wants to be your alpha, if I don't accept the challenge; she will challenge me for the position, to recover the honor of the pack." I said. His eyes went wide open. "And then she will be the one in danger of dying in another challenge. They want to control you." I frowned. I didn't like the idea. I could remember very well the strength and the vicious attacks from Pamela Vincent. Even when she was a medium size were.

"How do" he stuttered too surprised because I already knew his arguments.

"Rena is a were, David. She told me since the day she met Serena she was chasing for the alpha position. Rena is a great judge of character. Serena is a good girl, but she hasn't the slightest idea of what she craves for. I will accept the challenge, David. Serena doesn't have what it takes to scare Finley once for all." I said without noticing my face had a somber expression. Serena and Cali were the result of David losing control. Although he considered himself responsible for both of them, the real guilty party was me because I couldn't manage the focus, and he had to take it in my place I owed him a lot. He was my friend. Furthermore, Serena was an innocent that couldn't survive the traps of the other alpha males conspiring to steal the focus from David. The focus in the hands of greedy weres would mean war. That wasn't a desirable development for anyone.

"Rachel!" Ivy got worried immediately.

"Don't be scared for me, love. I can were. You know that, and I have been training. When?" I looked at my cowboy friend.

"Day after tomorrow, I will come to pick you up. Serena and Cali want to be present, Rachel, this could be very dangerous." David warned me again earnestly

"No if we ask to start on two feet. I can were in less than 5 seconds, I only have to go for the throat right away, and disable the other one. I will not kill her, David, but it will look like I'm going to, you will stop me, and you will be the alpha male controlling the red she wolf." I smirked deviously.

"Nice touch!" Jenks said landing on my shoulder "I will take one of the button cameras to show Ivy how you fight like a wolf, with those cute little black paws."

"This time you're not almost 6 feet tall, Jenks, I won't look so little to you." I retorted shaking my head. "Anyway, I will prepare some sleepy charms, some pain amulets, and one or two itchy charms, just in case they get too eager after the challenge."

"Are you sure you can win?" Rynn Cormel asked me with an earnest face. He didn't like the idea more than Ivy.

"Yes, it's a piece of cake. I might end up with a bite or two, but I can beat a were. Ivy has been training me, Erica can tell." I said confident.

"The challenge is the same day of the medical appointment." Jenks said.

"Shoot! I want to see the babies!" I frowned. "Can we reschedule?" I looked at David, he shook his head in no motion, he was truthfully sorry.

"They will give us a disc with the recording of the sonogram." Erica said. "We can watch it afterwards with your challenge, while you lick your wounds." She teased me.

"It's not funny, Rica." Ivy sighed.

"Hey, don't worry, love. I will be fine." I hugged her shoulders, standing behind her chair. "I can't let Serena put herself in danger. I have to find a way to scare the other alpha males. They want to control the focus. It is my responsibility to avoid the focus falling into the wrong hands. The vamps are already quarreling. There is not a day there's not at least one incident. If the focus gets out, the war would become total. With the Weres attacking everyone; and the death count would multiply amongst every race. I cannot bear that on my conscience. I can't stay out. I know I can win the challenge, no matter the rival they've chosen."

Of course once we were alone the discussion was heated. Ivy was overprotective, as always, and she didn't want me in a deadly showdown with an angry she-were. She kept insisting that the whole thing smelt like a trap. On that point I had to agree with her, which only fueled her objections. I didn't give in to her demands of refusing the challenge. We went to bed upset and for the first time she didn't let me hug her to sleep.

I was mad at her as well. I was perfectly capable of a fight, without her help. Rynn wasn't pleased by my decision, and she was afraid of possible retaliation on his behalf too. As much as I had a commitment with him, I already had a previous commitment with David. I just couldn't let Serena do a stupid thing and put herself in a danger beyond her imagination.

I was making breakfast when Jenks came into the kitchen.

"Troubles in paradise eh?" he asked me when he saw my face. I felt like crap, I almost didn't sleep at all, and Ivy gave her back to me the entire time. ─The cold shoulder, I didn't mind nuzzling at her back, anyways I used to spoon her to sleep, but she didn't let me touch her.

"Just landing in real life, Jenks." I sighed.

"Are you sure this is not a way to have an adrenaline high, Rache?" He asked me, with a piercing look. "You just turned down Susannah's request for help without a single thought, Rachel. Maybe you have been quiet too much and now you jumped on the opportunity to have a fight without a moment of consideration!" he pointed out.

"Jenks! How can you think that? You cannot compare the situations! Susannah was a stupid cookie that against every good sense and good advice went to a black witch. She tried to kill Ivy, and our babies! Moreover, helping Susannah had been declaring a war against an entire Coven of black witches whom happen to have the perfect cover! I would make myself the Public enemy number 1. Not to count I would have endangered Ivy and our babies! Those bastards wouldn't hesitate in killing her only to hurt me!" I clarified. "In the other hand, Serena is a good girl, a real innocent in all the mess the focus implies! I am the only one to blame in her case, Jenks. She would be a human living ignorant of Inderlander wars if I hadn't brought the focus with me. David feels responsible for her and Cali, but it is my fault they are weres now, Jenks." I shook my head. I turned the omelet in the pan. "I can fight a were, and then scare for good to Finley, I cannot let them think they can control the focus. Finley is not different from Walter Vincent, Jenks. He's an ambitious asshole who would start a war without a single thought for all the people he would be condemning to die! It's a risk, yes, but Ivy would be safe and I will do my best to fright the weres at least for a while!" I frowned. "Who brought the focus to the world again, Jenks?"

"Crap for brains!" he smiled a bit apologetic, hovering in front of me.

"I'm not doing this for a thrill, Jenks. I hate challenges! But I'm the alpha bitch of the pack. It is my responsibility, I cannot let Serena doing a stupid thing and risking her life against that imbeciles. She has not a chance of surviving. David has the focus because of me, I have been a total stranger to the pack, but I cannot give my back to this, is too big for Serena."

"Ok. Did you explain it like that to Ivy?"

"Yes, I tried at least, but she is closed to any explanation, I understand Ivy, believe it or not, Jenks. I know she worries sick about me; I can't blame her for loving me and wanting only good things for me, Jenks." I said. "How do you think I would react if she was the one fighting anyone in a challenge?" I asked rhetorically "Just The thought of someone hurting Ivy makes my heart stop, but she is pregnant, Jenks. I can't let her risk being in the open and taking a shot, or worse. Sure she's a vamp, the strongest living vamp in Cinci, but she is carrying two babies with her. I'm capable of doing this. I have done worse things in my life. She knows I'm not weak, and I'm in a better shape than ever before. A little confidence in me would be nice. It would cost me nothing asking for a change of the medical appointment, and letting her come with me, but I don't want those stupid weres attacking her. If it is a trap, as we all think it is, with my luck the least that would happen would be a street pack shooting at us." I shook my head serving the omelet on the plate, on which I had already served some fresh salad.

"And despite that you still insist on doing it!" her voice didn't startled me, I was very aware of the hearing range she had. As well the silent moves she was capable of.

"Have a seat, Ivy. This is ready for you." I turned and walked to place the served dish at her place on the table. "I will bring you some coffee, and orange juice."

She was in a neatly closed robe. And her arms were crossed on her middle, covering her belly partially. She frowned as she stared at me.

"Honey, have you put some thought in the fact I can travel the lines now?" I asked pulling out of the fridge the orange juice. "And, if things get too heated, I can take David and the ladies with me out of there?" I followed my line of thought while I reached for the glass to fill it. Then I went to the coffee machine and filled a mug.

Ivy sat down in her place. And her frown subsided a bit.

"I'm half demon, Ivy. It's not a fact that I like to brag about, but I am. My blood can activate demonic curses. And with this reaper thing, well, now I don't have as many scruples about hurting people that had it coming beyond scratches. I'm in a bad mood, honey, but I'm planning on take it out on them; because it is their fault we are fighting in the first place." I left the coffee and the juice near her plate. She grabbed my wrist before I could retrieve the hand.

"I don't like this either, Rachel. This is a scenario I didn't expect." She pulled me around the table gently. I followed her mute indication without struggling at all. Her hand cupped my cheek, and I bent towards her to meet her lips with mine. She kissed me deeply. The timer on the oven biped and we pulled apart at the same time.

"What's that?" she took in a deep breath. And her eyes glared with expecting greed.

"Croissants." I smiled "Good morning, Ivy."

"I needed that good morning kiss." She sighed. "Funny how I got used to you being with me in the bed so quickly; and I took it for granted in this little time, love." She stroked my arm on its entire longitude. "Do we have strawberry jam?"

"And peach, and pineapple too, I will get those out the oven and bring you the jam, and the butter." She still had my wrist.

"You are pampering me too much, Rachel. Even when you're mad at me." She seemed a bit guilty. "I'm sorry if I make you feel incapable, I know you're not. It's only I'm afraid of losing you when I just got you, dear." She grabbed my hips this time, using both hands she slid them to rub my thighs.

"Exactly the way I feel, Ivy. You will not lose me." I brushed her lips again with mine. "Dig in, let me bring you some hot croissants, babe. The moment I see no way out, that moment I will use the lines and I will take out of there all my pack with me. That of course is plan B. Do you want help me doing a plan A?" I offered putting the oven glove on.

"Hi. Ivy." Jenks flew towards the table. "Whoa, you're bigger every day, woman!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I am setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. This could look a bit rush, but since the story comes from Rachel's POV, and Rachel never has a clue of what's happening until is over her head, that is the logical step. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Notes: Better late than never, guys. For those whom have joined this ride, I hope you enjoy reading the journey as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

To the ones reviewing, if you're still on board:

Thank you very much from the deepest pits of my tainted soul.

Merci beaucoup, depuis les puits de mon ame souillée. (I asked a friend who knows some French to translate this for me, I hope I have it right, if not, my apologies)

Muchas gracias desde el fondo de mi alma impura.

If you notice some changes in the English structure, that's thanks to Natasha, whom took the time to correct my most confusing phrases and my grammar and spelling. Hey, girl, for the corrections and for your priceless insights and advices, I'm forever in your debt, sunshine.

CHAPTER 13

Ivy wasn't happy, and neither was I. This would be the very first day we wouldn't spend with each other since I woke up from my coma. The last couple of months had been like a dream. After the incident with the demon things were too peaceful. The doctor was expecting her at three in the afternoon, which was the same time David was coming to collect me.

Three cars were at the entrance, one for Ivy and Erica, and the other two with bodyguards sent here by the master vamp. She kissed me intensely in the kitchen, she had just drunk a glass of orange juice. I loved the way she tasted after orange juice.

"Be very careful, I want you in one piece when you return, ok?" she said, her tone was possessive as her hands gripped my arms. She didn't want me to go. At the very least, she wanted to come with me, but that would endanger the babies; we had our first serious discussion over this. It had not been pretty.

"I will, babe. You stop worrying, this is necessary, and I will be back by 8, maybe 9 no later. I won't let David and the ladies linger before they bring me home, besides Jenks will cover my back." I stated softly, trying to comfort her a bit. I knew her; she wouldn't have a minute of peace until I was back in her arms. She simply could not remain calm if she thought I was taking a beating while she wasn't there to help me. _But David will be there._

"Of course I will!" the pixie said from the napkin holder on the table. "And you'll see the whole fight; I have the cameras and the laptop ready." It was clear he was very excited, golden dust was pouring from him. "Jhan is coming too. And Bis will be very alert here with Mattie."

"It's the first time I've seen you in leather since…" Ivy trailed off. _Since I killed myself besides her to save her soul. _My mind completed. I was wearing my favorite pair of black leather jeans, vamp made boots, no heels, and a leather short jacket, over a simple shirt with long sleeves. She was having a bad feeling about this; I could sense it through the connection of our rings. I hugged her before kissing her deeply.

"Nothing is going to keep me away from you, Ivy! Even if I get back with a bruise or two, I _will_ get back to you!" I said stroking her shoulder and her hair. "You be sure to get back to the church before night falls." I asked quietly. "I'm really sorry I can't be with you for the doctor to tell us about the girls. I want you to tell me everything that happens there, babe."

We watched them leave then Jenks went to say goodbye to his family and I returned to the kitchen, while Jenks was busy with his family I packed my purse with amulets, charms and I put my splat gun in my belt at the small of my back and covered it with the jacket. Finally, I spindled a bunch of ley line energy. I was amazed by the quantity I could manage now.

I didn't make the curse to were, because I realized I already had it. Titus had various transformation curses on him and Al as well. Part of what I reaped from the demons seemed, somehow, to be stored in my marks. This reaper thing was odd, but very useful. I was sitting on the floor when David opened the kitchen door.

"Rache!" he picked me up, and I saw the three mugs in front of me, suddenly I became aware of the nausea vanishing from my stomach and throat. _What the turn had I just done? What had I drunk? _The marks itched a bit on my shoulder, and my thighs. The taste was unmistakably revolting. Healing potions, the same recipe I drank after my fight with Titus.

"I'm fine; I just sat down a minute. I'm ready." I went for my purse as soon I put the empty mugs in the sink.

Even though David wasn't convinced, we headed out of the church. He carried the laptop and the little boxes with the pair of cameras Jenks wanted. Serena and Cali were waiting in the car. David had saved me the front seat. He was dressed like a stereotypical cowboy now he even had the hat. We drove in silence towards the industrial part of the city. I stared out the window, lost in my thoughts.

"What is it, Rachel?" Cali asked me in a worried tone.

"Ivy must be taking the exams right now:" I sighed heavily wishing I were there with her.

"Are you worried about the challenge?" Serena had to ask.

"No. Look, girls, there is nothing to be excited about; the challenges are brutal. I do not like hurting people, or being hurt." I paused as we approached the gates of a warehouse. Two weres stood in front of them gesturing at us. "This doesn't feel right."

David got out of the car, and started talking to them. He was bothered when he returned.

"What?" asked Serena with a frown on her face.

"They decided to change the place at the last minute, now we have to go to the opposite side of the city, beyond the Hollows and into the woods, there is another warehouse there. With the traffic, this could take at least one hour. I don't like it. It feels like a trap." He said and started the engine again. "They said too many people came, and there wasn't enough space in here. It's a freaking warehouse, how much space do they need?" he complained.

"Outside the city" I stared into the distance as I thought. "In the woods, where there is no way of getting medical attention quickly; and no way to escape." I mused aloud. "And the FIB or the IS couldn't reach the point at least in the same amount of time It's going to take us getting there. What's the population of real wolves in the woods, David?" I asked.

"I don't know, it must be a good number. It is very far away, almost on the state limits. We are probably going to arriving in time for the last hour of daylight." He said unconvinced.

"Oh, crap!" My whole body tensed and I shivered. The terrified screams of my babies were drilling a hole inside my brain, and then I felt Ivy's anger and fear through our connection. I closed my eyes. Focusing and could hear her inside my mind, warning me. They used spells, they were witches, but Ivy also smelt the weres. She was afraid for the babies and for Erica. Just before the connection broke I saw blood on her hand, it felt like a fist crushing my soul, for a terrible second I thought I had lost her, that she died.

Fear and pain for her filled every cell of my body, but I could still hear our babies panicking, and I realized Ivy was unconscious. I focused even more, tensing all my muscles until I was able to feel her again. Ivy was alive! I could feel the connection and the warmth of her soul. I could let my body relax a bit, and as my babies felt me aware and reaching for them, so did the babies, the screams subsided inside my head. But just after comforting them, I found that an obscure feeling was incubating in my loins: rage. _They dared to touch my woman and my babies! They are going to pay the price!_ A growl escaped from my throat.

"Rachel?" Jenks was calling me in shouts, and David was giving me little taps on the cheek. We were parked on the side of a lonely road on the way out the industrial zone. "They have Ivy!" I said between clenched teeth, and David loosened the grip of his hand on my shoulder. He had turned me to face him and I could see his concern.

"Tink's little red shoes! Are you sure, Rache?" Jenks asked almost in a panic, for him family was very important. Ivy was expecting, she must be treasured, worshiped, and above protected. There were two little ones inside her, and babies needed to be safe.

"Yes. Do you happen to have any weapons, David?" I asked him still tense.

"Of course I have weapons, there are in the trunk. I loaded them just in case." He answered, as his hand released my shoulder. "How do you know they got Ivy?" My alpha male closed his jaws forcedly while he asked me.

"I charmed our rings so I would know if there is any trouble around her when I'm not with her. They have witches, David, more than one." I informed him "This is not going to be pretty. We better leave the ladies in a safe place. And I cannot ask you to come either. Witches mean they have decided to cheat on you, and are planning to take the focus by force. There will be a demon showing up eventually, probably as soon the sun goes down." I said. "Damn!" I growled. _You have to think, Rachel! Don't rush, they will not hurt them unless they think something is wrong. Take a deep breath and think! _I said to myself. I breathed in slowly, trying to calm myself down. "Go to the highway, I have a favor to ask." I decided, dialing a number in my cell phone.

David started the car, Serena and Cali were scared now the earlier excitement at the prospect of getting to watch me were and seeing their first challenge, was long gone.

"Hi, Rena, are you home?" I asked as soon the young were answered the phone. "I have a problem; do you think Claire would help me? I need to use her private kitchen for an hour or so. And I need you to take care of Cali and Serena for the night."

"What are you planning, Rachel?" Jenks asked me landing on my shoulder. Jhan landed on the other shoulder expectantly. They were both using the winter clothes Matalina had tailored for them. David had the heat going on to keep them warm enough.

"We can't go too far off the road, because surely they are watching us. Claire's place is outside the city, but on the same highway we have to use to reach that warehouse. She has a chapel, Serena, Cali and David will be safe in there. We will go alone, to rescue Ivy and Rica, just Jenks and me."

"The hell you will! I'm coming with you, Rachel." David said in harsh tone. "But thanks for finding a safe place for the ladies." He accelerated his car. "Do you plan on calling Cormel?" he asked with an angry grimace, his eyes fixed on the road ahead of us.

"No, if the vamps move, then they will kill Ivy and Erica for sure, David. If they think they can get the focus, a war with the vamps is not a big issue for them. I think they are planning on threatening their lives to force me to lose the challenge. Once I'm out of the way and a demon taking the focus out of you, then they will kill them. That's what they want. Ivy is safe until the moment she can't be used as leverage to make me do what they want. If I call Rynn, a platoon of living and undead vamps will go to attack them. I would be sentencing Ivy and Erica to die first." I clenched my jaws. "If they get the focus, David, then war is unavoidable, and every race are going to pay the price. I cannot let you take that risk." I said bleakly.

"The weres told you there were too many, that means it is a big trap. You could align them, using the focus, but that way the war will still be started. War is what the radical weres want, David. Even if they have to be your vassals, by aligning them in a round they will be forcing you to start the war against your wishes, because the vamps and the other players couldn't risk a united were nation. They would never trust you not to attack anyone besides they will worry about who will hold the focus after you. The last time the weres united under the focus it took every other Inderland race working together to stop them from taking over" I explained in a somber way. I had to be calm to have any chance of saving them all, even if I felt my heart crushed, and my body stiff from the wait.

"Oh, God! I didn't realize there were so many things at stake. Now I can understand a bit better why you are being so apathetic about the pack, David. You could have told us." Serena said concerned. "We are a pack, it doesn't matter if you want us safe, we are a team, we're in this together and I'm not being left out of this. I will help you." Her tone made it clear that it was pointless to argue with her.

"You could die, Serena. This is going to be bloody and messy." David's voice was filled with worry.

"If we don't show up, they will suspect something's up." Cali said shyly "I'm part of something bigger than me, and I'm scared, but this is too big to stay behind and hide. I don't want a war. There is so much misery in the world as it is. I have a human family, and they can be affected by the outcome of this. I will not hide." She said in a quiet, courageous manner. My heart clenched, the ladies were something else; I should have spent a lot more time with them, _Double damn, I'm their alpha and I have obligations and responsibilities to honor towards all of them_.

Renata was standing at the door, with Claire, both in jeans and sweatshirts. They had been playing basketball when I called. Claire led us to her spelling kitchen. It was very much like the one she used for cooking, only with 6 stoves and ovens. The intricate colorful design on the floor was the same. The space was massive; she had several counters, two islands in the middle, as well as at both sides; and it had many cabinets, storing all the ingredients I could ever ask for.

"What's happening, Kiddo?" Claire asked me. I explained the situation, Renata got anguished at once; she was fond of Ivy, in the many visits they made to us, we had connected and now we cared for each other. Claire was very fond of us too, she knew so many things and she had taught me several ley line spells. It was thanks to her I had been able to make the protections for the windows. And she put her reputation on the line for me.

"Damn!" the cook clenched her jaws. She was angry. "I didn't see it coming. I thought the Master Vamp would be more careful." She said. "The worst part is, the baby witch is about to born, a stress like this could rush the labor." She looked at me and I tried to pick my jaw up off the floor.

"How do you know?" I asked her, startled. I hadn't told her the truth about the babies or my belief that one of the twins was a witch and would be born first.

"I haven't been a cook my entire life, kiddo. I have seen those marks before. That's the real reason I know you're not a black witch. And I can smell the little witch in Ivy's womb as much as I can smell you. They're your children. That has never happened before that I know of. I can see the connection you have with her and with your babies. That is going to lead you to her. You have to get her safe even before the challenge. The challenge has to take place. The spirits said so. Now all of you go to that side and don't move, it's time for magic."

Opening a cabinet, she pulled out two spell pots and went to put them on one stove. We moved towards the big sink at the side of the kitchen she had pointed to. We saw how she started to measure ingredients, in less than a couple of minutes she was muttering an invocation. A current of chilling energy arose from the floor. A ghost appeared. She was a beautiful woman, almost about my height with blue eyes. "Hi, mother." Claire said.

"My daughter." she smiled peacefully. "Why are you calling me now?" she was stunningly beautiful, and she was dressed like a Persian princess.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your peace again so soon, I couldn't foresee the situation, the vamp I asked about last time, she is in danger, as you told me. Are any other demons aware of the children she carries?" she asked seriously.

"Not so far, but the moment she gives birth, the aura of the vampire mother cannot protect them anymore, my daughter." The ghost seemed to concentrate for a couple of seconds "And it seems like the little witch is going to born today. If any demon is near, he will know the truth of her conception. You will need a strong potion for stopping the labor too, before the other baby can be hurt. Give me a body, and I will prepare it for you." The ghost offered with all the confidence of a wise elder witch.

"Yes, mother. Thank you." Claire put a necklace inside the other spell pot. I recognized the spell, I had done it twice for Pierce, but it was a bit different. In matter of seconds, the beautiful Persian princess was cooking a potion on other stove, strangely, she came fully dressed, and Claire was preparing rapidly everything she asked for. The witch was an artist with the knife.

All of us were overwhelmed. Claire Britt was indeed a very powerful witch, capable of bringing the dead ones from the other side, but she wasn't using black curses, or demonic ones; she was using earth and ley line combined, like demons, but the effects were totally different. They were practically the same as demonic, with variations. Renata was astonished. She had no idea of the powers Claire had. The cook and the embodied ghost were talking in an exotic tongue, as they quickly worked in more than 6 spell pots at the same time.

Suddenly the exotic princess fixed her big, almond shaped, blue eyes on me. Then she came directly towards me, walking with the grace of a dancer. Her clothes were very revealing; clearly showing that she had been a curvaceous and very gifted woman when she was alive.

"So, you are the latest descendant of my line, little one." Her graceful hand touched my cheek; I felt a warm love passing between us. The dark curly hair was wild under her veil. "No, your babies are the latest, and you have to save them." She said to me tenderly. "Tonight is going to be long and challenging, but you have the courage to make it and survive through it, my daughter. Don't despair, you are strong enough, it will be painful but the pain will be worth it the moment you hold your baby in your arms." She said with motherly tenderness, she was looking at me with the eyes of a mother.

"Your line, lady?" Renata blinked.

"Yes, little one. I lived and died several millennia ago. But my descendants are spread across the entire Earth. They live in many places, and they have many colors now. When two of them get together, they produce powerful witches, so both of your parents are my descendants." She looked at me again. "That kind of pairing only happens 3 or 4 times in a millennium. This millennium was very productive; it gave 7, counting you and your babies." She stepped back. "You are special, Rachel. You are the first woman to produce heirs without a man being involved. I expect so much from you. Claire will teach you. She can call me, but you have other talents. Listen very carefully." Placing her cold fingers softly in both my cheeks, she started to talk in that exotic tongue. I was startled by her cadence, and the softness and clarity of her voice, but I didn't grasp a single word. "When the time is right, you will know how to use it. Farewell, my daughter, you make me proud." She kissed me on the cheek and went back to Claire, kissing her as well after a little chat. Just like that, the woman vanished.

"Whoa!" David shivered. "What a woman!"

"Indeed." Claire was pouring the potions in bottles. She asked me for a bit of my hair, and I cut it with a knife without even ask what she wanted it for. She used it to filter one of the potions she was making. "We don't have much time. At least I have been preparing and thinking of the possible scenarios we might face. I was waiting for the solstice party to give you this, but." She went to a big cabinet. "Roger brought them yesterday. I was blown away for your idea of modifying a splat gun, kiddo. It is effective and practical, but only seven shots, not so practical. Roger manufactures this." She opened the cabinet and we could see four paint ball rifles. "Each one has 50 shots, and they can even shoot in bursts of three, in automatic mode."

"Whoa, heavy artillery!" I blinked astonished.

"Yes, Rachel. I spent the last few days spelling. I have eight ball holders with 50 shots each. Four are filled with sleepy charms, I hadn't cooked a sleepy charm in 30 years, but they are good. The other four contain a mix of itching potions, blindness potions, and pain potions." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Why did you do all of this?" David asked her directly "Are you expecting an army attacking at you, madam?"

"No, Mr. Hue. I was expecting exactly this. I made a consult on the last full moon, a spiritual consult. I wanted to know when Ivy was going to give birth. Mother told me the day was near. She warned me about the plans the weres and witches have. I knew you would need help so I started to cook. I also have the medical equipment packed. She just told us Ivy will deliver a baby tonight, in the middle of a little battle. I will take care of her; you will all have to fight." She said in calm but serious tone.

"Did you know Ivy was going to be abducted?" I asked her frowning.

"No, I assumed that she was going to the challenge with you, that it would be her own decision, I never thought it would be anything like this. I was planning to go to your house tonight to find out about the challenge. The challenge was what mother told me. Where is it being held?" she asked me.

"In an old lumberjack warehouse, the company folded 6 years ago." David informed her "It is about a 40 minutes ride from here, madam." He pondered respectful.

"Shar!" Claire called elevating her voice a tone.

A stumping sound came from outside, someone heavy had jumped from the roof to the floor. The door opened, all of us could see entering the kitchen an adult gargoyle. It was the size of a big lion, long whiskers, big fangs and sharp teeth, showing in what looked like a friendly smile, at least to me, because Serena and Cali moved behind David, a little scared from it.

"Yes, Claire?" the voice was definitely feminine, gravely and rough; I would call it sexy if it came from a woman. The big wings were folded at her sides. Her skin was obscure and terse. The whiskers long, she was smiling at the reactions she caused in the majority of the little crowd filling Claire's kitchen. Renata was astonished, she must have seen her still and quiet; and never thought her more than a statue.

"Wow, Bis is going to be as big as her when he grows up?" I asked impressed.

"If it's a male, probably a bit bigger, Rachel." She smiled "Rez!" she called too. A little gargoyle flew from the outside trees and landed on her back. "This is my youngest daughter: Rez." The little gargoyle curled on her body shyly, she was smaller than Bis, the size of a cat maybe, and cuter.

"Nice to meet you all!" the new gargoyle said in an almost teen voice.

"Likewise, you are the youngest gargoyle I ever met, Rez." I smiled to her.

"We need to know the distribution of lines in the woods, Shar." The old witch said in a hasty tone.

"No problem, Claire. Rez, would you help Rachel?" the mother asked.

"Yes, mom. I have to…" she trailed off looking at me, filled with doubts. She was getting a little tense.

"I know, you can stand on my arm or on my shoulders, whichever you feel more comfortable with, Rez. Thank you for your help."

"Have you done this before, Miss Morgan?" she sounded surprised.

"Yes, I live with a gargoyle named Bis."

"Ah. Most witches are afraid of us." The little gargoyle said relaxing.

"That's because most witches are complete morons, sweetie. Gargoyles are the perfect friends for witches." I cajoled her.

"You're right, Claire, she is not regular witch." Shar laughed. "Go on, Rez. She won't let you fall."

The little gargoyle jumped and I caught her safely in my arms. Suddenly I could see the big line only a hundred yards away, along with others much further away. I controlled my dizziness and focused.

"You have a very good line in the middle of your house, Claire."

"I know, that's why I bought it in the first place, Rachel." She rested a hand on the back of the adult gargoyle. "That way." She pointed. "Mmhm, can you see?" she asked me.

I turned on my heels, holding Rez securely. There were several lines.

"The place where two lines are very close together and almost seems like one diverging; that is the place both lines are only few hundred yards behind the warehouse." Claire said. "And there are at least three witches tapping on the nearest."

"How could you… ah, now I saw it. Five, two more just tapped it." I could see the minor variations in the intensity of the line.

"Yes. But it is too far for knowing for sure. Now, you have a connection with Ivy, use it to locate her." She asked me. I took a deep breath and focused even more, closing my eyes and using my second sight to see. I reached for my life partner's soul. A bright tiny spot just seemed to burst into flames close to the line Claire had pointed out. I heard my babies screaming again. I flinched, hugging Rez.

"Oh, God!" I fell on my knees, feeling very guilty and strained for their suffering. "The babies are in pain!" I realized. "If they've touched her I'm going to…" I clenched my jaws to stop myself from howling in anger and frustration.

"Focus, Rachel. You will use the line to get in there, you need to scope the place the best you can." Claire's voice was demanding. "Probably the stress has rushed Ivy's body into an early birth labor. They are in pain due to contractions, which means we don't have much time." She warned me in grave tone. I nodded. I had to be strong for my love and my babies, I had to control myself and stifle the pain and the anguish I was feeling for them, I had to save them!

Using the computer, Renata made a connection with a satellite for viewing the place; we could see the location on the big screen of the TV room. There was a little warehouse. I counted 45 different vehicles, from trucks to limos. There was a crowd, maybe 15 different packs, and at least five members of each were present, and even up until ten of several of them. People were hiding on the roof of the warehouse.

Behind the warehouse, there was a clean space, several hundred yards in length, with several poles holding lights. Like a big place for storage in the open. Beyond that, the woods extended for miles. On one side, of the clean space, there was a very inclined slope, almost vertical, like a natural wall of rock and hard soil. The line of trees grew right over the very edge; some roots were showing on the wall. Behind that, there was a trail in the woods, perfect for a jeep. And as David pointed out the trees were perfect places to hide, a sniper could do a good job from there.

There were cars covering the entire perimeter of the empty lot at the back of the warehouse, except for the natural wall. Most of the weres stood in front of the cars, like the spectators and witnesses they were. The groups separated by several meters from each other. However, that didn't mean it was a way to escape; the weres were fast and they moved in packs.

There was a big space in between the cars and the wall. _Must be the place for the challenge. _There wasn't any sign of the witches, they were probably hiding inside the warehouse, or mixed with the weres.

Almost all the vehicles were in the back, hidden from the road. The warehouse would look perfectly innocent from the outside. _Just to make sure we wouldn't suspect the trap until it was too late._

Claire had an all-terrain jeep; we loaded it with the paint ball rifles, the potions. I asked Claire for a couple of bottles filled with salt water to wake my girls up with and some suitable weapons for them. The big backpack with the medical equipment came too. Claire and Rena offered to help as well, Claire was a skilled physician, with magic knowledge; and she had a potion made by an ancient dead witch. The cook was so secure and confident, so calm, but at the same time so firm, so determined. No doubt, she had done things like this in the past. Renata was startled; she always looked at her like a very complacent, simple, tamed woman.

David was going to drive his car, and Claire was going with him, disguised like me, they would be my distraction. All of my friends were astonished when the cook drank the potion filtered with my hair, and she turned into me. I wasn't surprised, she was a powerful witch and doing disguises like that was a task many skilled witches could perform without trouble, I knew how to do it as well; I gave her my clothes, and she gave me denim jeans a bit short for me, I was taller than both of them, and a denim jacket, cowboy style. Renata and I would go in the jeep and use the trail the satellite had shown behind the warehouse in the woods. Jenks and Jhan would come with me and Renata would be a sniper in the trees overhanging the clearing, the gargoyles came on the jeep too, they would guard Rena's back.

We went first; Renata was good driving the jeep, and fast; even though it was a trail. Rez was excited. Shar only calm, this wasn't her first time, but it was for the little one. We stopped almost a mile before the warehouse; and we carried the weapons and the medical equipment getting in position.

I took a deep breath, after helping Renata to climb a tree in silence. Shar told me David was arriving. And I focused on Ivy, for going with her. The sun was about to hide for the night when I slipped into the lines.

I came out of the line inside a small room, probably it was an office or a little storage room, it was empty with no windows, the floor was very dusty; thankfully, the light was on. Ivy and Erica were there, lying in very uncomfortable positions, as if their captors let them fall on the floor, without any care or consideration. They were alone and I couldn't see anyone watching, of course, there wasn't any reason to, a sleepy charm and they could sleep for days. Silently I put the backpack, with the two oriental swords borrowed from Claire's weapons collection, on the floor. I opened the box where Jenks traveled inside the pack. He nodded in silence, flying towards the door to see through the little space in between the floor and the lower edge of the door.

Ivy's maternity dress was dirty and wrinkled; a bit up on her thighs; she had bloody stains on the dress and her skin. She was face down, with one arm under her body. My heart skipped a beat, I went to hold her and laid her more comfortably on her back, she wasn't injured that I could see and that gave me a little peace. I rested her head on my lap and poured one of the bottles of salt water on her, covering her mouth with one hand to avoid any noise. There was no noise, but one of her hands clutched my throat, automatically, in defense, as her whole body stiffened. The lethal pressure on my neck ceased the moment she saw me. I hugged her tightly, and she hugged me back the same way, sitting up with a little puff.

"Sorry it has taken me so long to get here, Ivy." I murmured very quietly on her ear. "Be very quiet, they don't know we're here." I warned her. She kissed my neck, scenting me, calming down. She faced me, with a pained grimace.

"Rica?" she asked. I pointed at her back and she turned to see her little sister. Erica was bloodier, someone had broken her nose. Her jeans were ruined, her tank top and blue sweater as well.

"I'll wake her up now." I showed her the bottle. She nodded and let me go. I reached Erica and did the same thing, placing her on her back gently, and covering her mouth as I got ready to pour the contents of the second bottle over her.

"Wait a second, let me fix her nose before you wake her up, or she'll scream like a baby:" Ivy grabbed her firmly by the bridge of the nose with her fingers and it cracked as she pulled and pushed in a certain way. She checked on her baby sister. "It's the best I can do; I think it will be fine, if she doesn't make another were hit her again." She turned her eyes up to the ceiling in a desperation grimace. Her little sis still was too overconfident when she was fighting. Ivy covered her mouth and I poured the salt water over Erica.

She grabbed my forearm and almost broke my wrist twisting it. I clenched my jaws trying not to make a sound. Ivy told her to stay quiet and let me go. She released me looking at me apologetic. I got a pain amulet from my purse and activated it for her. She sighed and smiled grateful to me the moment it made contact with her skin.

"Ok, Ivy. Here is the thing, you are in pain, but I can't give you a pain amulet because the stress of the ambush and the way they let you slam on the floor, well, you are having our first baby tonight. It is a witch, not a vamp; so it's almost her time. She is not arriving too early, so there shouldn't be any problems caused by her being born a tiny bit premature. But Tammy is coming tonight, love!" I smiled to her. My sweet vamp still couldn't believe she would have a witch. Now we had to deal with her parents, because tradition dictated the first born was the heir for the strongest line. Big problem a witch couldn't possibly be the heir for Tamwood line, she wouldn't be a vamp! I was secretely hoping our baby witch could have my name, and become a Morgan. Although, during our chats, I tossed the name Tamara mostly because the pet name would be Tam or Tammy, and she always could be related to Tamwoods in that way. Ivy simply laughed that day. "There's no time to talk about lines now, dearest, but I told you the first baby only because biology was going to be a witch and not a vamp. Now, we have an urgent issue to deal with, and that is getting out of here alive. We will deal with your mom later!" I said

"Are you sure?" a little fear she wouldn't admit to having, filtered into her voice, and even on her visage. Our babies were a serious issue for her.

"It's not only me, Claire knows you are expecting my babies because she can consult with ancient dead witches, they told her, the baby is coming tonight, dear." I whispered with confidence "There's no time for explanations now, Ivy, I'm sorry."

Erica went paler, and both of them slightly changed their stances, I could tell the sun just went down. They now were in full vamp mode.

"I can take both of you to the city, to a hospital, and then I have to get back here." I said very quietly. My vamp frowned and her eyes lost the most of the brown in a split second. "But I'm afraid of what anyone could do to you and the babies after the drugs kick in and with the quarrels still going on…" I shook my head, and she nodded, her anger subsiding while she was sensing I had an option. "On the other hand Claire is a fine doctor and she is posing as me right now, giving me the distraction I needed to get the two of you. We brought medical stuff; just in case we can't settle this in time or your water breaks, honey. That is the most likely scenario; you will be giving birth to Tammy in the open, while I'm trying to get rid of a bunch of weres, some witches and probably a demon, with my pack, Jenks and Jhan."

"Tink's panties! They are coming, Rache!" Jenks said in hurry.

"How many?" I asked getting to my feet.

"Four weres, no witches so far." He said. "The witches are surrounding Claire at the entrance, and they are only four." He flew off the floor.

"Ok, Erica, now it is time for you to practice a bit, I brought two swords that Claire borrowed to us." I took the backpack. The young vamp nodded and she took one. Ivy came to take the other oriental katana. Both of them checked the very dangerous blades. "We need them neutralized without noise, to get out and joining our friends outside. They are probably threatening Claire right now with harming you two, and those are coming to get you and to show my pack you're their hostages." I said.

"Aha, exactly like that." Jenks nodded landing on my shoulder. I grabbed my splat gun and aimed at the door. When it opened the first two entered without even looking inside, and I shot them and the others very quickly, the four of them fell to the floor with no more sound then the thumps when they hit it. "You're becoming a very trigger happy, you know?" the pixie chuckled on my shoulder.

"Enhanced reflexes, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders "A little scouting trip would be nice on your part, Jenks. But first, this means you want to stay here?" I saw at my vamp.

"Yes, I trust Claire more than any doctor I know. As she is a witch; she can do a circle to protect the baby. No matter if there is a war around us, inside a circle, the baby will be safe." She said convinced. I nodded and we kissed in a hurry, but intensely.

"I'm going, get close and hide." Jenks darted out. We went out too; there was some machinery in a big space, and many covered piles of some wood ready for go and forgotten in here. Luckily, for us, one tall pile was covering the door. Maybe they left it there on purpose. We could see the door to the back fully open, and the lights of the poles were on. Very good lights, it almost looked like it was daylight. There were four witches, making a net, trapping my pack. Ten alpha male weres also stood inside the warehouse, along with five female alphas. There were other weres, not alphas covering the entrance door.

I was about to tap the nearest line, but instead I looked for the connections of the witches with the line. Surprisingly I could see them very easily, and I reached for those connections, at the same time. They felt so weak to me. I put all of them together, and they didn't notice, because I was using their connections, and I stepped between them and the line.

We could hear now what the alphas were discussing. I had probably been the only one who couldn't because Vampiric and pixie hearing were very sharp.

"You didn't say anything about hostages, nothing less than vampire hostages, Finley." I knew that voice. _Ms. Sarong, being one of the most important weres in the city she has to be in on the challenge._ "Are you insane, what do you propose? Begin a war with Rynn Cormel? Everybody knows the Tamwood bitch is the favorite pet of the Master Vamps in this city!" she said angrily. Ivy huffed quietly behind me. "And she's pregnant! Do you have the slightest idea of what is going to happen to you if the future Tamwood heir doesn't make it?" she was outraged, good thing to know.

"That doesn't matter anymore, Sarong, because I will have the focus, and we are taking the city." The voice of Finley was the same, and he was the same egotistic asshole I had met before.

"Have you thought about the costs of that, you arrogant prick?" she demanded. "The city will be chaos, and many people will be murdered, with and without any involvement in this. It's one thing to purge a pack, and get rid of a witch who has no business being member of a pack only for her species, but a war with everybody, starting with the vamps no less, is an entirely different issue!" she said rising her voice. "I have a legal business, and the underworld is none of my concern, you have a legal business, a war would be just as prejudicial to you too." She was talking sense. She was a smart woman.

"This is happening right now. And no matter what you said, you will obey the focus, why are we wasting our time?" another familiar voice angry demanded. _Vincent. Why that doesn't surprise you, Rache? He wants revenge for his wife. She was the one running. But he blamed me. But I don't think he's going to give up on getting the focus._

I huffed and I stand straight, to get out of behind the stack of packed wood. Without any thinking, my savage part is responding to the facts, but not showing yet, I didn't change.

"Well, well, well." I said in a bitchy dismissal tone surprising everyone. Ivy and Erica came after me, with the swords prepared to defend or to attack. The witches turned to see us, like everybody else. "Hello again, Vincent. I see you still are trying to get the focus, and cheating to do it. An unscrupulous man never is a good option for leading anything. And Finley, you are the stupid prick Ms. Sarong just said, if you think that fellow is going to give you the focus, you are not only stupid, you are a greedy moron." I said, and I gave the witches a little overload of ley line energy, before they could react.

The three men and the woman shrieked falling to the floor; I knew exactly what they were feeling, but I ran out of pity the moment they touched my Ivy. "This way, ladies, David." I called them, and they rushed to us, now there was no net surrounding them. "Now is a good time to call Rynn Cormel, Erica, the global cell is in the pack, do the honors, please." I said loud and clear. The witches were still shouting in pain, begging me to stop, twisting on themselves, in panic. "Shut up!" I ordered stopping the current. The four of them were panting, curling in on themselves. The woman and two of the man were crying.

"Four witches, I don't think so, there has to be at least 3 more. Maybe they are calling a demon right now, most certainly outside; I don't feel any more in here." I said. "Ugh, you are a real disappointment, no wonder the weres can't get the place they want, with alphas like you, and it's the best thing that could happen. For everybody. You think the focus is a magical wand that gives you your wildest dreams. You bunch of fools! The focus requires a strong will to manage it, and none of you is worthy of having it. For you it would just be a tool of self-destruction. None of you have the pair it requires to manage it!" I insulted them, and I sent another charge of ley line through the witches, when I noticed two of them were about to attack at me.

The pained screams produced shivers on the alphas there. This time I didn't stop until the four witches were unconscious, they all, were bleeding from the nose. "Ah, silence at last! Don't count on them when they awake, I think they will not be able to tap a line for weeks. And they are going to be in a bunch of troubles themselves, facing the anger of a master vamp. Well, we are here to answer a challenge, not chit chat about the true measure of the worth of a male alpha weres; none of you even reach David's ankles on that matter." I said contemptuously

"Rache? What are you doing?" Erica murmured almost scared behind me, dialing the phone.

"She is being an alpha bitch." Jenks said quietly on her ear. "She has to be bitchy. But it is disturbing, I know." He comforted her.

"Rynn! Thank God! They broke my nose!" Erica shouted in the phone. "We are fine, Rachel is here too, she just… Where are we, Rache?" she asked me suddenly startled and Ivy laughed shaking her head.

"Let me, kiddo." Claire took the phone and gave Rynn the address "Ivy is not in good shape, I think the labor for the birth is beginning, Mr. Cormel, maybe you should rush. I can manage a birth for sure, but there are too many weres, at least 150… Aha, there is a trap, right… Well, there are one named Vincent, and another Finley, the other names, I don't know… I think we can handle it in the meantime, yes." she offered the phone to Ivy.

"Well, contractions just started, but they are… yes." She cut the call. "They will be here in an hour tops." She said. "If someone wants to run away, this is a good time to do it." She offered with a confident smug.

"Run? No way, Ivy. I'm here for a challenge, and we are having a challenge. Here the ladies and so called gentlemen are going to keep their word. One hour is enough time to do it. If they call a demon, then the things will be messy, for all of us. But they are the ones whom wanted the war in the first place; we can't forget it, can we?"

"You are a witch and you are not fit for being an alpha bitch, Miss Morgan." Ms. Sarong said with clear coldness in her voice.

"That is going to be decided, Ms. Sarong. I can were. And I'm agreeing to face the challenge made to me. If your candidate can beat me, then she can take my place in my pack. I will not use magic in the challenge, except for becoming a wolf. If I wanted to use my magic against you, you all be on the floor right now, just like them, it will not take me much effort to fry the brains of all of you. Of course a were is not match for me doing magic. But we will settle this fair and square. Shall we?" I gestured to the back door with one arm.

"You have the courage, and I give you that much, Morgan." The woman said. "But holding back the focus is a mistake."

"No, it is not. The focus is a wild force that overtakes the bearer, Ms. Sarong. David is the right one to possess it. If David were like any of those ambitious and stupid males around you, then all of you would be not only vassals but slaves by now. The war would cost much more than anything you can gain by having a nation. The focus was created to do damage, carnage and chaos; to create a prosperous soil for demons to exploit, using your race as a tool to do it. This is the fact all of you have missed. And if you don't remember, the inderlanders and humans overthrew you once even with the focus. That is going to happen again and this time, you will be slaughtered to the verge of extinction." I said earnestly "The losses would be too high for everybody, the alphas would fight constantly for the right to hold the focus and the inderlanders attempts to get it would never end. Any intelligent person can see it. The vamp that hid the focus did the right thing even for weres. If you cannot unite by yourselves that must be hint enough to know you are not mature enough as race to do it. You are selfish, looking out only for yourselves, you want power, but you cannot manage that kind of power. You are seeing it." I explained clearly. She blinked twice.

"For a witch your age, you have a very insightful point of view, Miss Morgan. But the legends…" Ms. Sarong objected passionately

"The legends are tools as well, to create this kind of division amongst you and the other races. Every race must be proud of itself, I don't deny that. But using a tool created by demons is not the answer for any race. Demons can't be trusted they put their own interests first." Ivy said with a frown. "And they want this world. You're only helping them, doing what you are doing." She panted and leaned on Erica for support.

"Ivy?" I turned to check on her concerned.

"Just another contraction." She said, as it wasn't important, a fine sweat was covering her forehead. She could control herself like no one else I knew; surely, she was in pain, or she wouldn't be sweating. My heart clenched, my Ivy was a strong and resilient woman, proud as well, she never allowed herself to look weak even in the worst pain possible; but our little witch was coming. Every second that passed, it was a second closer to her birth. _I have to hurry this thing up! Oh, God, please help us!_

"That is what your methods have gained so far. The danger of losing an unborn child, and a war with vamps. Way to go!" David said getting by my side, covering for my momentary weakness. "Are you sure you want to go ahead with a challenge from such dishonorable cheaters?" he asked me.

"I'm not afraid of them, David. They should be afraid of themselves, doing this kind of things. You are the best were I ever met. If you are with me, I know I'm safe. What are we waiting for?" I faced them.

The weres were uneasy now. They had heard the vamps were coming and they had made the first move to piss them off. They had lost four witches at once and they have a divided front. Because at least Ms. Sarong was confronting them, even before she knew the vamps were coming. Now at least half of them were doubtful. They wanted out of the thing, before the vamps arrived. However, they couldn't afford to look weak in front of the other alphas.

"I was never warned about any aggression against vampires. And I'm not risking my people in a war I never wanted in the first place. I'm here because you told me about a challenge. But you never mention any demon involved, what about that?" another of the women, a mature one asked.

"You can't listen to anything a black witch says." Finley dismissed her.

"You're the one hiring witches, Finley, and not very good ones." Sarong said bitchy "One single witch just knocked the four of them out. Sure Miss Morgan has a reputation, but I only heard she used a demon to testify against a Master Vamp whom sent it to kill witches. Why did you say that Finley will bring a demon?" she turned to ask me.

"Ask them." I shrugged my shoulders.

"That damn witch put the focus inside Hue, only a demon can take it out." The answer came from Vincent. "And we will take it."

"So the ones hiring black witches are you again, Madam." David crossed his arms over his chest. "That should give you a clue, they wanted you here to murder my alpha bitch with your approval, but they have never intended to share the focus, not even with each other, maybe Finley hired some witches, but I'm sure Vincent brought his own black witch to obtain the focus first." His voice was filled with confidence, he was the owner of the focus, and that gave him an edge. Finely and Vincent were exchanging defiant looks . _Oh, yes, they will be fighting each other before the challenge ends. That's good. Divide and conquer. We don't have much time, come on!_

"And both of them are fools if they think a black witch is playing fair and square; there is no way a black witch will do anything without an outrageous gain. I'm guessing they will be ditched here and left to fight a war they can't win. And all of you had it coming." I shrugged my shoulders "Are we going to do the challenge, or not? Are you forfeiting? Because if that's the case we leave, Ivy needs a doctor."

"The challenge will take place. Julia is waiting." Finley said with a frown.

"First I want your word the rest of my pack goes unharmed, along with Claire and the vamp ladies." David demanded. "Rachel has agreed to take the challenge, and I have no doubt she is going to win. Once the challenge is over, we are out of here. And I expect no more plays like this one; or there will be consequences. You don't want to push me beyond my patience, madams and gentlemen." He spoke with an appealing tone, but at the same time a bossy one, he was the primal alpha male after all, and his authority irradiated out of him, in a very manly way. Suddenly he seemed the most suitable bachelor in town, better and more attractive by far than any one of the others, despite their looks and clothes. All of them had a change in their body language, submitting against their wills to the strength of the owner of the focus.

"But of course, Mr. Hue. If is it true your alpha can were, and she is strong enough to subdue Julia, then my business here is settled." Ms. Sarong said, giving him an appreciative look. It was the same kind of look all the female weres in the room were giving to him now.

"Whoa, that's what I'm talking about, way to go, David!" Jenks said impressed.

"Hey, go easy on the pheromones, cowboy!" I warned him with a little laughter and tapping his shoulder with one hand in a friendly way, almost all the ladies stared at me with killer eyes; I was touching the prize all of them coveted now. He was mine, my alpha male, wasn't he?

"Challengers choice, we will start in two feet, making the time to were a part of the challenge." Stated Finley uncomfortable, for the first time he couldn't feel superior to David. And the feeling wasn't a pleasant one for him. David glanced at me; I frowned a bit. Maybe their chosen one could were in under 30 seconds. Vincent saw me falling to the ground when I wered in front of him. They wanted the advantage.

"Rache?" David asked.

"Whatever!" I shrugged my shoulders "I've been practicing and training as well." I smiled devilishly at Vincent. "When do we start?" I asked full of confidence.

.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I'm adding some characters of my own. Now we get to the challenge and the focus. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

Again, Natasha went by this chapter correcting my most confusing phrases, the grammar and spelling. As always, her insights and advices had enhanced the chapter. Thank you, sunshine, and I remain in your debt.

This is RaVy all over the place so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 14

We walked out the warehouse, my pack in a compact group, already going to the left, Serena was in front, with Cali, then Claire, still in my form, and Ivy with Erica. David and I brought up the rear, just in case they tried to stab us in the back at the last second. The alphas walked outside as well, going to the right. Two big, muscular weres closed the big, tall double doors behind us; they pulled them together and slid an old rail in the upper edge. Now we were officially inside the Were's mouth.

The air was blowing softly, yet was very cold, and a shiver ran down my spine, thinking of a little naked, wet body exposed to this chilly wind the second she left Ivy's womb. I felt so grateful that Claire had packed warm thick little blankets to wrap my baby, and protect her from the winter temperature. The lights above were intense, leaving no place for the smallest cast of a shadow in the entire area of the clearing behind the warehouse. Two big piles of wood were at either side of the doors, the last remains of the lumberjack company, along with the other wood inside. I saw the high natural wall outside to our left, the only place free from weres. Nature had formed this very steep incline, looking almost like a vertical cliff going up for 20 or 30 feet. Here and there, some roots were sneaking out the natural wall of rock and hardened soil, the line of trees began over the very edge of the cliff. On one of those treetops, Renata was waiting, guarded by Shar and Rez. Jhan was also with her, Jenks had told him to record the challenge, even if the eager pixie boy wanted to be with us down here. Claire had made some amulets to protect them from the cold. She had attached the charms on little redwood splinters, easy to carry for a pixie.

The clearing must have been used for storage and parking for a long time and still had the same use. The hardened soil in the clearing was smooth and even from the constant traffic of vehicles and people, and it had been recently cleaned. This must be the place they had planned to hold the challenge at from the very beginning. There was no trash, nor evidence that the warehouse had been totally abandoned and the woods hadn't yet claimed the clearing. The tall metallic poles holding the powerful lamps way above our heads were evenly distributed throughout the clearing. There was no place to hide, and no way to run away since a heterogenic variety of vehicles, from trucks to limos, was parked around the entire perimeter. Moreover, the were packs were waiting nervously, distributed in front of them. The lights were so good they even reached into the surrounding dense woodland and instead of a feeling of safety; they accentuated the very fact we were cut off from the rest of the world by a double barrier of vehicles and weres. They had managed to complete the perfect picture of being doomed. The natural wall, alone, dry and impossible to climb barehanded, was the place they had chosen for us to be during the challenge, they were trying to overwhelm our minds with thoughts of desperation and make us feel trapped. The closed warehouse, with its solid wooden walls, and the other two sides covered by entire packs, each of which clearly outnumbered our small group, all of it was meant to shake our confidence. To show they had cornered us!

The alphas smugness as they reached the opposite side of the clearing and the fact they stayed close to each other, apart from their respective packs, created a false sense of unity on their behalf. It made me smile_. If they only knew!_ We needed that same space they had put us in to prevent us from escaping; we needed space to shoot and the wall would protect our backs. They couldn't pass through the wall to attack us. More importantly, I needed the space for Ivy. I took a deep breath, this was so wrong! Why the turn did they have to be such cheaters? Why had they chosen to harm my Ivy? I was the one who protected David and the focus! Not my Ivy! My Ivy! I spared a look for her, she was about to be in a very vulnerable, difficult situation. However, my woman didn't show any fear, not for a single second. Ivy had always amazed me with her courage and her calmness in the worst situations! We had a plan, we had weapons and Claire was really a witch, capable of making a circle to protect my pack, and my vamps. They must have thought she was a decoy, disguised like me when they saw me with the vamps. Claire had not done a thing to let them suspect she was a witch. She didn't lift a finger against the witches. I, on the other hand, had knocked them all out. They only knew the one in leather was a fake Rachel Morgan, they didn't suspect yet that she was a witch much more powerful than me!

"Why are we taking the worst point?" Erica asked uneasily, already feeling cornered.

"It is the best place with space to shoot and we have a plan." Cali whispered to her.

"I hope so." Ivy said. "Not just plan B, right?" she asked me.

"Smell up there, honey." I smiled to her.

"Rena and Bis?" she sounded doubtful saying the name of our little gargoyle friend.

"No, up there are Rena with Shar and Rez. They're female gargoyles and they live with Claire." I answered quietly. "There's no time to explain, Ivy, but she has paint ball rifles loaded with charms, and if the things get heated, Shar is going to bring them. And…" I trailed off when I heard Serena's voice.

"Son of a bitch!" her eyes were wide open. "Is that even a woman?" she wondered in shock.

"For the love of God! You have to win, Rache! We cannot be stuck with that!" Cali agreed. We turned to see the reason for their fear and got our first look at Julia – the were Finley and Vincent had found to challenge me.

Julia stood next to one of the poles holding the lights aloft. At first glance, she looked like a slightly effeminate strong man waiting for the next round of the world strongest man competition to begin. She was well over six feet tall, short hair cropped close to her head and she was very muscular, surely a weight lifter. She was dressed only in a robe, ready to get naked. All the alphas had moved to stand several feet behind her, a united show of support for their chosen champion. The crowd was anxious, waiting for the carnage to begin. They were murmuring and joking within their own groups, the group separated by several meters from each other along the woods perimeter, no, they didn't have that united group conscience that Vincent had achieved the last time; these groups were everyone for themselves!

"She looks like a gladiator." Erica shook her head blinking, clearly thinking I hadn't a chance. Jenks swore in Tink's name, and Claire sighed suddenly doubtful. Ivy grabbed my arms from behind, instantly worried by my rival. I stared at the challenger, my insides slowly going numb as Ms. Sarong announced the formalities. Julia's robe hit the floor, she was indeed a woman, but every muscle on her body was over worked and big. Her breasts were even more nonexistent than mine, _which is saying something!_ I got rid of the jacket, and I turned to Ivy again, taking the ring off my finger.

"I don't want to lose it. Everything I wear disappears when I invoke the curse, honey. Keep it safe for me." I slipped it on to the finger she wore her matching ring on. She kissed my lips and for a moment, the world went away. I felt her anguish, her fear of seeing me hurting, I hugged her tight, and she embraced me possessively, wrapping my body, as her mind had wrapped mine. I filled my kiss with all my confidence, and anger, I wasn't angry at her but those who were causing her distress. I came here to make a point and Julia was going to be the one receiving the punishment for risking our baby, my Ivy's anguishes and for putting both through this nonsense out of greed and ambition.

Ivy could feel my primal being howling to be unleashed ─ and Ivy knew first handed my savage part ─ against the very ones that by making a stupid power play had made it unavoidable that our baby would be delivered in the open woods, in the winter weather; surrounded by violence and treats! Feeling me boiling with barely contained rage calmed her a bit. Now she was sure I wouldn't hesitate to show everybody we were not an easy target and it was better not to mess with us! At the same time, her tongue came to claim mine; reminding me pleasantly I had her to come back for. Cali cleaned her throat, when our kiss, not chaste at all, lasted a tad longer than decorum dictated.

"Don't get killed!" Ivy ordered me, her eyes almost completely black. I smiled at her and took my boots off.

"Turn it! I didn't pack a change of clothes!" I remembered suddenly.

"Don't even think about it, you can change back from wolf into my witch at home!" Ivy warned me, in a possessive tone, putting on the jacket I had just taken off. I laughed. There wasn't much to look, but I was hers, and she didn't want anyone else to see me naked. I brushed her lips again with mine slightly; I nodded and walked to the front of our little group.

I heard Ms. Sarong giving the shout to start, and I thought the word of invocation _'Lupus'_, as I leapt forwards, towards Julia. I could feel the near instantaneous change happening to me, while I was still in the air. My body shrunk, and my senses enhanced, my feelings became rawer. This time the freedom hit me with even more clarity than in my previous experience. The rage stored in my guts exploded, this time I wasn't seeing all in black and white, but green. The savage part of me emerged freed at last, my black front paws hit the ground absorbing the impact without effort and carrying me forward as my hind paws touched the hard soil. Using my momentum, I ran grunting ferociously towards the fool that had been convinced she had to challenge me. I was a fast, agile wolf after its prey. I was stronger than the last time and a bit bigger too. Just as I expected, this time there was no smut, nor demand for magical payment. This time I had lost any sense of mercy. The simple fact of thinking in Ivy, enduring torturous labor pains, obliged to be outside, risking her health and our baby's health made my stomach clench in wrath!

It only took me a few seconds to reach Julia; she was already on all fours, but almost at the beginning of the painful transformation. I could see the alarm in her eyes during my fast run. Using the strength of my powerful rear legs to gain velocity, I was going directly towards her. Julia stretched out her arms trying to fend me off, so, I adjusted my trajectory to avoid them at the last second. For my agile wolf body it was easy. I had a strong powerful body fitted to attack, to hurt and kill if I wanted to. Then I leapt against her. My jaws closed on her muscular shoulder, very close to her neck and my momentum and weight pushed her to the ground. She was still very near to a metallic pole and her head crashed against it, with a very hard and alarming sound. That gave me a very mean idea, an idea my body was already putting into motion. I shook violently and forcefully my own neck and head causing her head to smash against the pole time after time, stunned by the speed of the attack and dazed from the blows to the head, she had no time to react. I could taste her blood on my tongue, and I felt my fangs tearing her skin and muscles.

Sometime ago, I wouldn't be capable of doing this to an innocent person, not even a guilty one; but at this moment, I was fed up with the greed of the weres. This woman was no innocent at all, her orders were to kill me without giving me a chance and she had agreed to do it! I just wanted to finish this as soon as possible, and get to Ivy's side, to hold her hand and be with her during the birth of our first daughter! They had ruined that beautiful family time and memory for us with their greed and ambition. They had to pay the price for the anguish, inconveniences, distress and pain of my sweet vamp over this, and the price of driving me out of my rational contained mind.

During some moments a stunned silence reigned over all the witnesses, they seemed even to stop breathing and the woods were silent as well. The only sounds on the clearing were my angry growls, muffled by Julia's flesh inside my mouth, and the crashing sounds of her skull against the metal which were echoing, traveling far away carried by the wind. Their candidate was defeated without even landing a blow.

"RACHEL! STOP NOW!" Suddenly David ordered me, with his alpha male voice.

The last macabre sound of cranium against metal followed his voice in the silence. I wasn't ready to stop, but surprisingly to myself I was still in command of my savagery. I let the bloody flesh slip from between my sharp teeth and fangs. Julia fell unconscious and severely injured to the hard ground. She still was breathing, but she was in very bad shape. Her head was bleeding abundantly from several points, also her neck upon the part joining with the shoulder, were my fangs and sharp teeth had sunk in. The skin and the muscle under it were a bit torn because the violent shaking I had given her. _That was way too easy! _

A vibrant howl of victory came out of me; I couldn't help it, long and exhilarating, I was rubbing my victory in the faces of the startled weres. I was alive, I was powerful and I had to howl it to the sky, making sure the point was clear enough to everybody. I looked towards my group first; I could see the smile on Ivy's lips, a proud smile. Jenks was clapping and cheering, flying all over the place pouring golden dust on everybody. But Cali and Serena looked almost afraid of me and Erica's jaw was hanging open. They surely hadn't been expecting to see such a demonstration of cold blooded and merciless carnage where I almost killed another woman. Claire nodded. She was using my face with only the shadow of a smile on it. A close howl from a wild wolf answered my victorious one. Causing murmurs to break out amongst the witnesses, David was coming my way, all-ceremonial, with a straight face. I turned to see the other alphas; they were very tense and badly surprised. Ms. Sarong's jaw was falling too. I growled at her and she shuddered in response, shaking her head as if to clear it, she approached Julia's still form. I could hear some murmurs about my color. I was a red wolf! The rightful owner of the focus was a red wolf in the beginning of the legend. Maybe I was the one to choose the owner of the focus after all!

"Quickly, someone has to take her to a doctor!" Ms. Sarong demanded. Two women, along with a big man in jeans and T-shirt from the nearest pack came forward to carry her. The women were crying as they headed for a truck carrying Julia. The mature were woman looked at me again. The engine revving on one of the trucks broke the silence again, the two big muscular guys were pushing apart the two doors enough to let the vehicle get through, and the truck took off at high speed; passing behind the other alphas and was out of there in no time. David reached me and the hand of my alpha male caressed my ears.

"Well, my alpha bitch won." David said formally. "Please call the outcome, Ms. Sarong." He added.

"It is the shortest challenge I ever witnessed, Mr. Hue. It only took a second for her to were and less than twenty to nearly kill Julia. Very impressive." She said still a bit shaky; she rearranged her expensive leather coat out of nervousness. A new howl, even closer followed by another and another let us know a pack of wild wolves was approaching.

"Rachel told you all she had been training, Ms. Sarong. Please, call the outcome, and we can all go home." He insisted.

"This is not fair!" Finley strode across the hard ground to join us, frowning, obviously as shocked and upset as every other were in the premises with the exception of my pack.

"Fair? Weren't you the one who found that poor girl and convinced her to challenge my alpha? Not to mention she's not even close my taste in women." David frowned. "You lost." He said, anger leaking into his voice now. Both the weres flinched, before the very were that could make them all vassals and chose not to.

I heard a suspicious click and suddenly my body tensed warning me of another danger. My instincts had me acting before I could decide anything. I bent my rear legs and jumped at David. Even though it was unexpected, he caught my furry body but my momentum forced him back a step as he struggled to avoid falling to the ground under me. The dirt sprayed up from the hard soil when a bullet hit the very place he had been standing. The sound of the shot froze most but not David. Still carrying me in his arms, he ran whilst a rain of bullets followed us. I could hear them cutting the air around us even with the loud detonations of the weapons. All I could think of was Ivy and my babies. _Please, God, protect Ivy. _The shooting came from the roof of the warehouse and my alpha male ran towards the warehouse making it impossible for the shooters to aim at us anymore since the edge of the roof covered us. One of the weres on the roof fell, he crashed on the ground before us; a sleepy charm had hit him. He didn't make a sound but he was breathing, although probably with several broken bones in his body.

David put me down on the hard soil. I heard another click and I pounced on Walter Vincent, whom was coming out the warehouse with a gun in his hand, as soon I saw him. My fangs sunk into his wrist while I was growling angry, stopping him from aiming at any of us. David hit him very hard in the face with his fist and in the stomach with his knee. The gun fell to the ground and David grabbed it. Walter Vincent fell covering his middle with his arms, all the air knocked out of him. David kicked him in the head and the shorter alpha male lost consciousness and I released his bloody wrist. I was getting used to this emotional numbness. My heart was still only beating at normal rate. Fear for my own life wasn't filtering amongst my feelings; but I turned to see where Ivy was.

Claire had made a circle to cover our pack and I sighed in relief. Renata shooting from the tree but the rifle worked on compressed air, and didn't emit any flash of light, unlike the normal weapons. So they didn't know the place the spells were coming from. More weres standing on the rear of a pickup truck started to shoot at us. David dived behind a pile of wood near the door and I ran quickly doing an evasive zigzag. Finley yelled in pain when a bullet meant for me, hit him on the shoulder as I passed behind him, I was using him and other weres to cover myself. I was very fast, faster than I remembered._ Maybe because I'm not the same, I'm using my second sight like a witch even in my wolf form, maybe I can do magic as well._ The other shooters began to fall as well. Renata was a very good marksman; the weres with weapons were all asleep when I arrived at the shooters' truck and the other packs had all backed from them. I saw Shar running by the wall, and entering Claire's circle with the rest of the air rifles and the medical kit in a backpack secured between her wings.

I was feeling very good, I had no problem at all adapting to my new condition; surely, my past experience helped me but there was something else. Now that side of me, the primal part had the most of the corporal control; and my mind wasn't too much in the way. The yelling, the shouting, the weres transforming here and there, all of those I was aware but my body only reacted to the danger. I was acting purely on instinct, a very trustful instinct. Two weres fully transformed growled at me, and they fell asleep before I could feel any fear.

"Enough, none of my pack is going to attack! They win fairly!" Ms. Sarong yelled with authority, and her pack, about eight young men returned to their places, near two big and elegant trucks. _She doesn't want trouble with the vamps and she doesn't want be a vassal of the focus. She prefers David having it; he isn't a treat for her lifestyle and her authority over her pack. But she's not helping us. She is not openly confronting the others. And the time is running out. We have to settle this once and for all._

Two packs of street weres with knives and chains advanced rapidly towards my pack, and I ran towards them, when I saw Claire was dropping the circle. Renata could hit two or three with sleepy charms but she couldn't get all of them. I stopped startled when I saw Erica disarming a pair, and making cuts with the very dangerous blade she carried. The kid wasn't bad, and she was pissed off because of her broken nose. She kicked some and she cut others, the young vamp was defiant and strong, after all she was Ivy's little sister.

One went airborne with only one blow from Ivy's fist; he must have weighed at least 130 pounds, he was a slim but tough young man, blood poured from his mouth, Ivy just hit him on the solar plexus, and his body went flying by the strength and the technique she used. He crashed against the natural wall of rocks and hardened soil, 15 feet from the ground, and then he fell spectacularly. He didn't move anymore. Ivy kicked another one in the stomach and this one went backwards flying off his feet. He traveled several feet through the air causing another four of his mates behind him fall before hitting a fifth full on causing them both to crash to the ground unconscious. _Whoa! And I thought she was rough on me sometimes! She really controls herself and her strength when she's with me._

My heart melted. Ivy really loved me. She could kill me by hugging me with less than half the strength she was using now to fight, she could crush my ribcage and turn my lungs into a bloody puree. _How can she control herself even when we're in bed? _Those weres had broken bones and maybe internal bleeding, just for the way they looked now. _That's why everyone is afraid of her!_ Ivy connected with her powerful punches on two more weres, getting them off the ground and crashing more than painfully into the wall and the ground. The others backpedaled terrified when she used the sword to cut their weapons in only one wide cut parallel to the floor. She was magnificent when she was kicking ass. She had the technique over two decades practicing martial arts had given her; they were street fighters, they didn't have her refined knowledge and practice with an elegant but extremely lethal weapon. They didn't have her strength by far. Ivy's entire body was a lethal weapon in its own right. My vamp was pissed off and probably starting to suffer pain due to the upcoming birth of our daughter. She needed to let some steam off; better on them than me. _I was the one who knocked her up; she is surely going to hate me during the labor pains._

Claire was an artist with the knives, and she was demonstrating it by using two to combat two weres, she disarmed them both with graceful, fast and agile moves, I blinked, she was wearing my physical image and my leather clothes, but she was a far more experienced fighter than I was. She moved with such security, and confidence, she made cuts on their arms and legs, non-lethal, but painful and incapacitating. She attacked from under and from above, moving so fluently, like a dancer, performing a mortal dance. In addition, she could kick as well, she repelled the both of them a pair of meters with her legs. They fell contorting in fear and pain. If the witch had wanted, she could kill them easily. Even Ivy blinked astonished. After all the cook was an old woman, maybe she was using my image now. But she was old! They couldn't touch her! And she got rid of them. _Crap on toast, I have to ask her to teach me that too! Now I totally believe she was in jungles and dangerous places. She can do anything!_

Serena and Cali had taken a pair of rifles and they had used them against all the others in the meanwhile. More and more weres fell at different places, some near our pack, some far from us, Rena took care of the ones who fell far, Cali and Serena had taken also rifles with sleepy charms, and they weren't bad, the few they couldn't aim at, Erica, Ivy and Claire did. Jenks was giving them instructions and pointing the way they should fire at. Shar only roared spreading her wings, and she spooked more than four; they fell asleep trying to run far away from the gargoyle.

David went out from his hiding spot and knocked out a pair on his way using his fists, he was angry; anyone could tell that. It was pandemonium for some minutes but then the silence returned. Most of the weres who threatened us with attack were on the ground, injured or asleep, all over the clearing, the wounded began to crawl towards their alphas, the others were asleep or unconscious, some very near to my pack, but they had advanced while they were fighting. The others had retreated towards their alphas. _Are we good or are we terrific? Suck on this one, Finley and company! _Ivy fell on to a knee, and I went to her side concerned; the little liquid pond around her foot and knee told me the amniotic sack of our baby had broken. She hugged my neck, with much more force than necessary to get my attention. The forceful move she gave to make me stare at her caused me to notice the wild pack of wolves looking at us from above, amongst the trees and rocks.

"This is it, Rache!" She said between clenched teeth, beads of sweat were running down her face and neck. I barked towards Claire and the witch disguised like me came in a hurry along with Erica. Serena and Cali covered us. The stench of burnt amber and something else came to my enhanced olfactory sense. Erica and Claire made Ivy lie on one blanket Claire took another from the backpack. I barked towards David, who was still far from us. I looked at Ivy with an apologetic whining. "What?" She asked.

"Oh, my God, the amulet is red!" Cali warned us all, looking at her amulet attached to her necklace.

"David!" Serena shouted afraid "Come quickly, please!" she asked. Our alpha male began to quicken his pace.

Ivy was panting. Her body was tense, and the news didn't help a bit. It was chilly, and we were outside, in the open, surrounded by hostile weres, wild wolves, and now a demon was on his way to get in here too. Claire pulled out of the backpack another two big blankets, and two little ones. She extended the first one and covered Ivy from the waist down.

"Ok, sweetie, I have to take a look." She said. "Spread the legs, knees up. Set your feet firmly on the ground, Ivy. I need some space to work."

"Damn! Why do you have to look like Rachel?" Ivy complained between clenched teeth. "You sound exactly like a fantasy I had once!" she chuckled.

"Ah, you are one of those!" Claire dragged my voice sensuous.

"Stop it!" Ivy demanded with another pant.

"I'm sorry, Ivy. I couldn't help it. It's not the first time I've gotten into the panties of a living vamp but you are far more beautiful, love. The panties have to come off, help me a bit, would you?" she teased a bit more. The underwear came off quickly whilst I gave her a grunt. "Oh, come on, Rache. I'm kidding. But you surely need some advice, kiddo. We will talk! Ouch! Ivy, you're fully dilated, girl! How are the contractions?" she got serious, as soon she saw between her legs.

"Another is coming!" Ivy answered in distress.

"Good, then push the moment it starts, sweetie. I think the moment the baby comes out, you have to drink this." She gave a bottle to Erica. The young vamp was holding Ivy's hand, kneeling besides her. _I should be the one doing that_. "It's a potion that stops contractions; it will prevent the other baby following this one. The other is a vamp; she needs 4 more months to be fully mature." The witch using my form explained professionally.

David was only 15 feet away, when a menacing man appeared out of thin air in front of him, fortunately the amulet for shielding him from demonic curses functioned as it was intended to, and the red ball of ever after energy didn't hurt him. I ran towards them, and I jumped on the demon, a tall man with modern clothes and sunglasses, the flawless image of a businessman. I heard Ivy shout my name and Claire energized the circle to protect everybody around her.

I was responsible for the situation. David had taken the focus because I couldn't handle it. I felt the current of ley line energy emerging from my front paws when I fell onto the demons back. The demon shouted in pain, more than surprised. My hard claws dug in to his clothes and the icy feeling of demon curses creeping inside me started. The reaping lasted barely 3 seconds, before he was empty of all but his complexion curse currently in use, I was biting his neck from behind, standing on his back; he couldn't put a fight. I wanted to take it all and willingly I speeded the process up. _Whoa, it feels awful, but I cannot take long with this! Ivy is having my baby, I have to be there for her. For them!_ I was feeling nausea and dizziness but I had a bad hunch, and I wanted to go with Ivy. The stench of another demon came to my nose burnt amber odor covering it. But with the nose of a wolf, I could say it without doubt. Another demon had just arrived and my instincts were yelling at me to move. I jumped off the demon, but I was a split second too late, due to the effects of the reaping, my speed wasn't the same, I was stiffened, and heavy. I felt the hard blow at my side. The new demon was using a bolt of ley line energy against me. The sound of the current engulfed me as I flew off the ground, all my fur stood on end, my marks absorbed most of the hit but unfortunately, not all my body was marked. Luckily, a large part of the attack hit upon the fallen demon and he contorted on the ground with an agony-filled yell. The pain was acute and deep on the parts of my unprotected skin where the current crashed. I growled and fell on the soil. The hard slamming of my entire body on it made me howl in pain, I knew I had broken at least three ribs. I was like 20 feet away from my first prey and I had lost almost all my air. Filling my lungs again was utterly painful. The second demon had a robe, like the one Minias wore. When I could stand on my four feet, I felt my heart clenching.

David was coming to help me, and the demon grabbed him. I watched horrified as the hand of the demon penetrated his ribcage through the clothes and the flesh. David fell to the floor panting, filled with nausea and pain. The focus was in the hand of the second demon.

I ignored the pain of my broken ribs, letting the rage take me over and I ran against the second demon. I didn't stop, I jumped on the ever after sphere he threw at me and the ball, repelled by my marked paw, and it hit again the demon on the ground. I reached this cute almost too clean and angelical looking demon. My jaws closed forcefully around the wrist of the demon. I was trying to make him drop the focus. Then I felt the blade that I hadn't seen. The freaking demon was stabbing me. The short metal blade slipped inside my body, directly by my chest, he was looking for my heart. But my body reacted, I contorted in the air and my legs found his arm, my hard nails scratched the forearm over the robe and he withdrew the blade, trying to avoid me from reaping his magic off him. My jaws couldn't hold the bite on his wrist due the pain of the wound weakening my entire body. The demon saw the wolves on the top of the wall and he tossed the focus towards one of them.

I could hear Finley yelling, saying no, and the swearing of Walter Vincent. But they weren't important now because I had also heard the crying of a baby, and my nose could scent yet a third demon on the premises. I gave up on the second one and I ran again in fear when I heard Erica answering the cell phone; I barked angrily towards her. She was breaking the integrity of the circle. The new demonic scent was coming from my pack, a revolting scent slightly familiar, behind the burnt amber; it was very offensive to my nose. Ivy and my newborn baby girl were in danger! I thought of the words of the ghost princess, once the baby was born, Ivy's aura couldn't protect her anymore. Claire was too occupied wrapping the little crying Tammy on a thick blanket to protect her from the cold. Then the demon just appeared right at her side, dressing in ancient leather clothes and he took my baby off her hands, at the same time he hit the witch with ley line energy. My heart went into a frantic beat, I was too far away but the demon didn't count on Ivy.

The sword she used in the fight was at her side, and she was fast too. My vamp used the blade in a mighty thrust from the ground, sitting with a forceful impulse from her entire body, and she put the whole blade through the demon until the hilt crashed against his abdomen, and the point came out by his back at his left shoulder height. The demon yelled but he didn't let go of my baby, the blanket unwrapped from the little crying body. Shar attacked at him, her jaws crushing one of his arms. Claire tapped the line trying to get the baby from his hands; she was still stunned by the first attack on her. The crying of my baby turned painful. Jenks poked one of the demon's eyes with his silver sword. My heart clenched when I saw the second demon, the one on a rope appearing inside the circle, he used another lightning of ley line against the back of the witch, and Claire was thrown back, her body destroyed the circle as it passed through it and she brutally collided against the natural wall. She fell on the ground unconscious and Shar ran towards her.

I could feel the pain of my little witch. My legs moved even faster. Ivy was hitting one of the demon's knees close to her with her fist. But the moment I saw him falling, without any coordination, without even trying to move and without a noise. I knew he was catatonic. Tammy was becoming a reaper. That was the reason her crying was so desperate and loud; she was burning inside out. With my second sight I could see the blazes of elemental fire engulfing her entire little body; she was being consumed from the inside! Erica tried to take her but she couldn't, the energy burning her. My baby was attached to the demon's hands holding her until all his magic had passed to her. Ivy barely managed to keep hold of her and stop her from smacking against him on his fall; she didn't care for the burnt on her hands. My stomach clenched along with my heart when I saw the second demon, the one with a robe. His knife was in his fist and he was preparing to stab my baby or Ivy. I didn't know which but that was not going to happen. I took a leap with my back legs and closed my jaws on the second demons arm before he could use his knife to murder my baby or my lover.

My weight and my momentum helped me to crash him against the hardened soil, with me on his middle. I was desperate, my nails dug into his robe to reach the skin. I had to kill him, or he would kill Tammy for sure. I had to get rid of this one first. I saw Ivy trying to get Tammy, but she only got painful burns_, _still she kept trying. _Tammy is her baby, she never will give up on her. No matter if she loses her hands._ Our baby was contorting in agony over the stomach of the demon wearing leather clothes. Ivy knew as well, she saw the way I turned when I fought Al in our kitchen. She was calling me, and big tears were escaping her eyes. Tammy was too small and she was suffering a torture that was killing her only moments after her birth. I was crying too in my insides, my own pain was nothing compared to the one I was feeling for my little witch, and Ivy's pain, anguish and desperation was filtering through our connection, matching and increasing my own. My heart was breaking, I was losing my baby. I tried to speed the reaping up but this one was like Al, his arsenal of curses, charms and potions seemed endless.

The howling of the wild wolf froze everyone for a moment. It sounded unnatural, more than wild; it was a freedom statement, too loud, too strong, and too long. I knew the feeling. The focus had taken full possession of a real wolf, ruled only by instincts, with no more ambitions or self-control than what was natural for a wild animal. I was feeling sick; this demon had too many curses on him. The most important and devastating thing, my daughter was dying only 5 feet away from me. I was bewildered for a second, when I heard the running noise of paws.

The possessed wolf was coming right towards us. I saw it coming unnaturally. It was running on the vertical wall, without falling, as if his paws could attach to the rocks. I almost feared that the wolf was planning to attack Ivy and Tammy but instead, it bit the neck of the demon I was paralyzing, with all the savagery a wild wolf had. My own jaws were still clenched on one of his arms, where I bit him to stop him for killing my family. It was an awful sight. I could see only inches from my eyes the way the possessed animal tore apart the throat of the demon, its sharp teeth and fangs sinking repeatedly into the demon's flesh, the forceful pulls of its body, the big paws holding the demon against the hard soil. The blood was bathing my side and my head as an intermittent spring with every beat of the demon's heart pumping it through severed veins and arteries. The blood chilling noises of muscles being shredded and the bones shattering between the incredibly strong jaws were magnified by my enhanced senses; and I couldn't let go. I was unable of letting go because my colored marks of the paws were sucking all the magic of the demon. The icy waves striking my guts were making me physically sick. The wild possessed animal didn't stop until the head was severed from the neck, it took it only seconds and then it howled victorious. I sent a wave of fire to the corpse still twitching beneath me on instinct, I wasn't very aware of anything else than except the fainting cries of my baby and the callings from Ivy. Then my body sent another fire wave to the nearby bloody head, both pieces of the dead demon would turn into ashes only a second later. But I wasn't seeing anymore, I had no time for that.

I changed back into a witch. I crawled towards Ivy; she was still trying to recover our baby. Strangely, my body wasn't cured. I still had the wound from the knife on my chest, and my ribs were still broken, there was a huge area on my side turning black, and the rib bones showing where they broke the skin. I could barely move, maybe the magic overload I was bearing already inside me prevented the magic healing that the transformation usually performed while my body changed into my former-self. The overload of magic was not only interfering with the total effect of the transformation but it was killing me as well. However, I had to do something to save Tammy.

"Oh God, Rachel, you're injured!" panted David; he was just coming with Serena and Cali supporting him by the sides, his arms over their shoulders. They couldn't enter the drawn circle on the ground because the savage wolf was too close. They froze Ivy gasped she had not noticed it before; she had been too focused on our baby. She helped me to sit down. Her hands were really burnt, and she was as desperate as me. Erica didn't know what to do, she was crying frozen and helpless, the young vamp frightened more than ever before in her short life, and she was on her knees a pair of meters away.

"What can we do, Rache?" Ivy almost sobbed, she was afraid of losing our baby, Tammy was very strained and weaker every second.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I am adding some characters of my own. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place so you've been warned.

Sorry for the delay, folks, but I wanted to correct the weak points this chapter had before posting it.

Natasha checked it and she corrected my infamous grammar and spelling mistakes, as well my way to phrase the things when it becomes too confusing. As always, your insights made this more understandable and complete. Thank you, sunshine. My debt to you is growing.

CHAPTER 15

"What can we do, Rachel?" Ivy almost sobbed, she was afraid of losing our baby. She could see how Tammy was getting weaker every second she had to endure the torturous fire consuming her little being.

I grabbed the tiny naked body, my baby was on the verge of passing out and she had lost her voice crying. The heat on her body I knew it, I was a master of it and the fire didn't burn me. Tammy moved weakly, she had no strength anymore. My tears were running freely down my face as I tried to cradle her in my arms, the demons hands were still clamping to her stopping me from holding my baby properly. Suddenly I changed, my eyes became entirely green and my tears ceased, I would not let our daughter die like this. "She is going to be fine, Ivy. I promise". I closed my marked hand around the demons wrist and I started to reap off the magic that was left in him. My other arm embraced the little body holding her close to my chest as the demons hands fell from my baby, when finally there was no more magic to take.

The wolf was coming to attack this demon as well, I turned my back on him and Ivy pulled us a couple of meters away. I could feel Ivy's desire to protect me and Tammy, and getting us out of reach of the wolf, but she didn't move any further either, she didn't want to provoke the animal to attack at us. Already his teeth and fangs were buried in the neck of the demon biting savagely, and his paws holding the exhausted body still on the ground. I couldn't care less about that right now. "Tammy, please give it to me little one." I whispered against her abundant curly ebony hair dampened on amniotic fluid and closed my eyes. I focused on our bond, my consciousness reaching for hers. The confusion, the pain, the fear she was feeling struck me on a devastating wave of helplessness for a moment, but she was reaching out for me. My baby was desperately looking for something familiar, someone to help her. She embraced my mind with an anguished mental cry of suffering and pain. I felt almost as helpless as my baby did for a moment; and then for the first time I felt the intrusion of another mind on mine. That wasn't one of my daughters, Ivy surely had connected with me before, but not in an aggressive way, now she was entering without any subtlety, I welcomed her, she made me feel capable of doing something.

Ivy joined us as I was trying to engulf the scattered feelings of recognition from Tammy's mind, and I felt her arms wrapping us, me and our baby. Together we could help her. Tammy understood we loved her; I remembered my own change, the way I had embraced the fire, despite the pain, because I wanted to live for Ivy, for her and for her little sister. I unleashed the strongest feelings I could from the very core of my being, sending them towards Tammy. I could feel Ivy's love as together, we reached for our baby, and then the anguished baby vamp joined us as well, reaching for her sister. Our baby vamp was distressed and pained as well, they shared a bonding, and with the pain, Tammy tried to protect her little sister by cutting her out. However, the unborn baby vamp wasn't willing to be left aside; she wanted to help her sister and to share her fate that was clear on her feelings, even though she couldn't put them in words.

Feeling the three of us reaching for her seemed to stir the will of my baby witch. Tammy was a fighter. After two or three agonizing mental screams that tore apart our hearts and minds, she found her own way of accepting the bargain she couldn't possibly understand yet. My baby somehow made the fire subside; she found a way to bend it to her will. She was mastering it, by pure innocent instinct. Both Ivy and I opened our eyes to see our baby between us, there were glowing marks on most of her body, as the blazes of fire ceased, Ivy could see the fire through my second sight. Her eyes were totally blue, with vertical pupils, like a cat eyes. She was panting now, but she wasn't crying anymore. Now that my daughter was not being consumed by the elemental fire, I became aware of the wolf, still severing the head of the demon just a few feet away from us.

I felt the sudden and powerful pull on the nearest ley line. The connection between the four of us meant that Tammy, her sister and Ivy were aware of it as well and Ivy turned her eyes towards the sizzling sound of the ley line energy. Claire was getting on her feet, she had overloaded herself with the line energy and her entire body was irradiating the power she was still taking from the line, Shar was standing at her side. The witch's eyes stunned me for a moment; they were totally green, but her facial expression was cold almost bored. Her hair (that was my hair since she still had my appearance) was frizzing with the current escaping from her. She was an astonishing sight for me, but not for Ivy, Ivy had seen at me like that more than once.

Certainly, I could understand why Jenks once told me that I was scary when I was tapping a line, if I looked like Claire did. The grimace upon my face, that grimace of bored nonchalance, like this was something that happened every day, like there was no real effort, no novelty, and no real danger. That was the scary part. It was too much power granted to a person who didn't care. Claire glanced around, she seemed to take it all in and assess the entire situation, in a split second. She extended her arm and a ribbon of ley line energy crossed the air like lightning and engulfed the first demon while he was slowly getting to his feet. The pained shriek from the demon distracted the possessed wolf from his second victory howl ─ yes, the wolf had severed a second demon's head in matter of moments, and he was stating his new victory against the ones that entrap him howling to the wind.

The animal saw the demon and ran against him. Claire was walking towards us, her eyes normal again. I felt my baby moving and her little hand was glowing. She shot her newly acquired fire against the dead demon and the demon along with his head only attached by a ribbon of bloody skin to it, turned into ashes. _She is a badass witch since birth._ I felt proud of her.

However, Tammy wasn't out of danger, I couldn't avoid a part of my mind distracting with the fact the focus had a will, and it showed when the wolf ran against the last demon, yes, I knew that moment: the focus had a will, and he was seeking revenge. Demons had imprisoned him in a curse. A tortured soul was imbedded in the focus. I was panting badly; my body was shaking from blood loss and the broken ribs the second demon had given me. The possessed wolf viciously attacked the demon dressed in a suit.

My baby shivered in my embrace. Moreover, she started to cry without sound again, she had lost her voice crying already. Ignoring the wolf I focused on her again, she was way too small to handle all the demonic magic she had reaped and her insides were crushing. Claire came with a pained expression upon my face. She covered all of us with another circle of ever after, and I noticed for the first time the blood running down her temple

"Magic 101, never use any item to send or receive signals of any kind; they break the integrity of ever after circles, that cell phone was the cause the demon entered in the first place. All the phones off and radios too." She said extending the last blanket. She covered my back murmuring ashamed and pained apologies, but her eyes showed her astonishment when she saw our marked baby between Ivy's chest and my own. "She is still alive!" she muttered in wonder. I didn't have time for really mind her, it was a feeling that Claire knew much more than she had said until now. I would confront her later, now the most important thing was the safety of my baby. I was focusing again on my Tammy, reaching for her little mind, her new agony, her renovated pain. My marked hand gently covered her back; the tiny body was all marked now, with the brand of elemental spells imbedded on her skin, as mine was.

"Honey, you have to give it to me, just let it go, I can take it." My marks glowed and reached for hers, making the connection at a physical level. Ivy tightened her arms around my sides, and I leaned my head on her shoulder, panting. Ivy was in pain as well, her hands so badly burnt she couldn't use them and hurt like hell, plus the pains of the birth, but for her the most important thing right now was our little witch. I saw Claire's eyes widening in fear, she was about to say something, but I ignored her. I was already bearing too much, but I didn't care, I needed to help my newborn daughter before she died. I began releasing my baby from her own bargain of icy demonic magic. Her marks were glowing too, passing to me the revolting mix of curses. Tammy's body was shaking as badly as mine was, but she settled down, becoming calm as I took all the things damaging her. The pressure inside me was already too much, but I didn't care. All I wanted was my daughter's safety. Tammy's relief was the only thing keeping me aware and focused while the stolen magic was tearing my guts apart. The pain was even more difficult because of the injuries to my body. "Ivy, please hold her." I asked my vamp with a quiet pant. I couldn't breathe anymore. I just couldn't hold even her minuscule weight anymore. Not even with Ivy's aura reinforcing my own.

"Rache?" she called me. I didn't answer.

"Just a bit more, just a bit, you will be fine, Tammy." I barely articulated, amongst my shallow panting.

Claire took a little blanket and wrapped the little naked body with it. Tammy wasn't shaking anymore, and she was breathing deep, by instinct. Her entire body was dripping sweat, as mine was.

"Rachel!" Ivy called me her quiet voice was full of fear. My marked hand was on Tammy's back, but the other just fell twitching out of my control for a moment, I closed my fist, I was shivering more and more violently.

"It is too much, Rachel, you cannot hold that much, you will burst." Claire murmured in my ear. She was holding our baby safely between us.

"Yes, I can… I have to do it; she is too small. Tammy doesn't know how to get it out safely." I stuttered.

"Rachel, your will and resilience are amazing, kiddo. But you are bleeding, and you have broken ribs. You won't be able to survive if you continue and you could kill us all, when you explode." The old witch explained with my voice, in a murmur only Erica, Ivy and Jenks could hear. I groaned in pain. I didn't care. I could hold it until she protected our friends with a new circle.

"No!" Ivy knew what I was thinking; she was sharing my thoughts. "There has to be something you can do, dear heart, you always find a way!" her hand almost broke my shoulder, my marked shoulder. Out of her fear of losing me, she forgot to control her strength, even with the bad burns upon her entire palm and fingers hurting her even more than her grip could hurt me. Her fear that she might lose both me, the love of her life, and her daughter made her blind to her own pain. Her fingernails broke my skin and the pain cut through me as they dug deep into my flesh, it felt like she was trying to scratch an itch deep in my shoulder. _Itching!_ The back of my mind functioned in strange ways.

Suddenly I remembered the potions I drank before David came to pick me up. Hope filled me, spreading through our mental connection to Ivy, and even Tammy and our unborn baby vamp. I thought of healing and activated the potion. I felt my wound closing, my ribs coming back into place, with a little relief. My blood replenished, and some of my strength came back, I was able to take a deep breath. The potion could not make the nausea of the demonic curses go away, but I was able to hold it up for a little while.

Suddenly Tammy started to refuse me. Her marks stopped glowing for a second and we saw how she stiffened her little body. Then she amazed me more than I have ever been. Her big almond shape eyes turned again all blue, and her marks glowed again, sending out, in a wave a powerful healing spell she was filtering through her entire little being, she shifted the demon curses into the healing spell by her own!. _Tammy has learned the healing spell only by experiencing it through me! And she had learned the way of getting out of her the magic her body can't handle!_ I felt bewildered for a second.

Ivy gasped baffled when she felt her body healing. The pain of the lower body due the labor, the burns on her hands just vanished; even the little baby still inside her womb felt the effects and her own pain and distress disappeared while Tammy giggled forcedly, sharing with her, and with us, the satisfaction she felt by making all of us feeling relief from physical injuries and pain. Erica moaned touching her nose as it was cured instantly, and then she stared at her healthy hands. The cut on Claire temple closed. David sighed when his own pain just vanished. The healing wave ended when it reached the circle protecting us, dissolving into it.

"Oh, Tammy, you are a natural, my little genius witch!" I said quietly, holding her again. I kissed her forehead.

"She has released the curses she couldn't store; she is going to be fine now." Claire sighed very quietly "She is a wonder, kiddo. She is just like you!" she smiled proudly at the three of us. "She needs some food. Ivy, you have to feed her, and she must drink water too. She is a bit dehydrated. But I didn't bring any baby bottles, or sterilized water, which means we have to finish this quickly!" she said turning her glances between my vamp and me.

"Tink's little red shoes!" Jenks landed on Ivy's shoulder "That was awesome, and she did it" he stared at the baby, as Ivy and Claire wrapped her body properly with the blanket to protect her from the cold weather.

"She looks like you, Ivy." I said while tears started running out of my eyes now I could cry again. "She is so beautiful!" I leaned my body on hers again. Ivy had taken our baby protectively, now she could use her hands again. My vamp was making sure the little one was better. We both were worried. Claire passed my lover a wet wipe. Ivy cleaned her left breast and our baby was surely hungry because she started to pull as soon Ivy got her in position. I arranged the blanket to cover her back, and the feeding baby. Ivy sighed in relief. If Tammy was hungry, she couldn't be sick anymore. "She is beautiful, my love." I sighed touching her covered little feet. If I had to die, it would be worth it, if she could live.

"She is a witch, and she has your curly hair, and her eyes are Donald's color." She hugged my neck. I kissed her lips. Ivy kissed me back intensely "How are you holding up?" she asked worried. I was tense, and I was shivering, not as bad as before, but it was still a sign of my body's strain.

I couldn't answer, I didn't know what to do except for walking out the circle, asking Claire to rise it again and then blowing out, taking with me more than a hundred weres, and the witches I knocked out. I lost my eyes on the top of the natural wall behind us.

I couldn't see the wolf's pack on the top of the natural wall anymore, and I understood when I heard some alarmed shouting from the line of cars entrapping us. The wild pack of real wolves had run down through the woods and they were coming to join their alpha. The victorious howling of the possessed wolf repeated for the third time tonight. Claire dropped the circle and then a chilly current of understanding ran through my backbone, when Claire burnt the latest dead demon, the blazes of elemental fire were invisible, except to the second sight of a witch. There was no danger of any one could know about it since there was no conscious witches close enough to use the second sight. _Claire is a reaper too! No wonder she is that powerful! The ley line she took could fry ten witches put together! The demon didn't have a chance; she almost killed him for the wolf only finished him! She was trying to warn me of something. Why didn't she offered to take the curses from Tammy? I have to talk very seriously with her!_

"_We will __do it together, dear heart!"_ Ivy said directly to my head. I nodded.

"Oh, my God, That wolf has the focus now! It killed three demons!" Mr. Finley sounded as shaken as I felt. "Who was the one, apart from that traitor Vincent, who hired a witch to summon a demon?" the businessman demanded in outrage.

"I did. I had no idea how powerful the focus was." One of the female alphas confessed. By her looks, she was a rich woman. "How are we going to recover it now?"

The wild pack approached to the possessed alpha. One of the female wolves came by its side, and the wolf growled menacing rejecting her.

"That's it!" a sudden idea came to the front of my mind. "I have to destroy the focus!"

"Freeing the focus? For that you would have to tear apart the soul of the male alpha were and the spirit from the wild wolf the demons put together to make it. I know a spell that could work, kiddo; you will provide the energy to shift what you got into it. The spell will require a lot of energy and we have the line very near if what you have is not enough. You have to be strong because shifting the magic is going to hurt like hell." Claire looked at me. I nodded. "Mr. Hue, please, we need to draw a new circle. The assistance of all of you would be much invaluable." She turned to my pack.

My alpha male nodded. "Just tell us what to do, madam."

"First, we have to force the focus out of its vessel, for that, we need to subdue him physically. That means you have to fight it, as a were alpha male. You have mastered the focus the past years, Mr. Hue. Your mind will not submit as easily as the others would do." The witch with my physical image said confident and certain. "Rachel can help you, she has to. Can you were again?" she asked me concerned.

"No problem." I nodded.

"We will draw a new circle. You have to bring the wolf into it. I will enclose the three of you, and then, when you defeat him, we will be able to take the focus out of it, after that Rachel and I will destroy it. Ladies, we need some space, take a chalk, draw a big circle, at least 30 feet in diameter, they will need the space to fight." Claire pulled out of her pockets some pieces of magnetic chalk, handing them to Serena and Cali.

The waves of icy demon magic were crushing my insides, and I could feel the new marks on my entire body extending, itching and burning with every crash of demon magic on them, they were containment spells nature was drawing on my skin every time I drained a demon. I could bite pieces of myself off my body for a little release. I was panting again I couldn't get enough air to enter my lungs. I was on fire, and the pain was making me mad. We saw the wild pack trying to get closer to its former alpha. However, the possessed wolf was rejecting their approaches with bites and growls, every time it was angrier, until the pack retreated a bit from him. The focus howled again. He walked slowly towards the weres, and most of them backpedaled. The wolf bit Walter Vincent and killed him when the were tried to touch him. With one single bite, the possessed animal tore out his windpipe swallowing it, while the ambitious alpha male was dying. That made all the others backpedal away from the focus. The wolf had an energetic aura, now I could see it more clearly.

"Don't run, or all of you will be attacked by the wolves, he is still their alpha too." David warned them, while he was using a magnetic chalk to draw the circle, as Serena and Cali. Claire was drawing symbols on the edges and at the center of it. The circle was being made close to the place I was with Ivy, our baby and Erica. Jenks hovered over our heads covering all the fronts.

"What does this thing want?" Ms. Sarong asked calmed enough, even though she was terrified.

"He is looking for a worthy alpha bitch. He just dumped the one he had before the focus overtook his brain." Claire explained. "Just don't move and let him examine you. He won't attack unless he feels any aggression towards him. You must know how this works, don't you?" she was still drawing the symbols quickly on the ground. The wolf was magnificent, big, with dark back and almost white legs and belly, although the fur was covered with the blood of Walter Vincent and the demons.

"But it is a wolf!" another alpha bitch said scared, her voice trembling, she was looking at Claire, with an horrified grimace she was the one who admitted having hired the black witch to summon a demon.

"He doesn't know. He has the mind of an ancient were now. That's why he doesn't want a real wolf anymore. He is very confused." The cook explained with my voice. "This is what you get when you play with demons, lady. The only way to separate the focus of a wild animal that he can control at will is going to be destroying it. Don't move and try to look flattered if he chooses you." My voice chuckled.

The possessed wolf went near every female were on the premises. The women were horrified, and very afraid of being the chosen one. First was Ms. Sarong, she was closer to him than the other four alpha bitches. She managed to stay still, but the next, she ended up without her throat. The wolf was getting a taste for ripping throats out and he was getting faster every time that it did it. Someone pulled out a gun and shot at it, but the bullets didn't touch him. The freaking wolf now had a superior instinct, and it was very fast. He just killed the shooter avoiding the bullets on its way to attack the terrified were while the wild pack killed the one next to the aggressor. It was an awful sight. Surely, none of the witnesses could ever forget it.

The rest of the female weres held still, when the wolf resumed to his searching. It was very clear the wild pack was under the influence of the focus. Now the eight wolves were watching and growling at the still standing weres.

Ivy was feeding Tammy, covered with the blanket, she had put the denim jacket on too; I was dividing my attention between my family, and the possessed wolf. One arm of Ivy was around me, giving me her strength and the protection of her aura. Tammy was sucking hungrily on her left breast.

"You both should be safe at home, I'm so sorry this happened, Ivy." I whispered apologetically.

"I was the one who chose to stay, Rache. You won the challenge, just as you promised me. If I weren't here, you would have left with your pack, and that would be it." She murmured worried.

"This is not your fault, honey. It's totally mine. Thank you, Ivy. You have given me a baby, when I thought I would never have one of my own. I love you so much. Whatever happens, know that I will love you forever!" I couldn't avoid the doubt on my voice, I was feeling very bad, maybe I couldn't survive this time.

"You are going to come home with me, Rachel. I need you, and you know it. How am I going to raise a witch by myself? I don't have a clue. I need you, and Tammy needs you. You remember that and don't even think about giving up!" her brown eyes had locked with mine. I could feel her strength filtering into my body. I was her Scion, and we had shared blood numerous times in the past two months. For the very first time I felt her intruding in me, not only in my mind, but in my body, sharing with me my agony, and her will of standing by me, giving me her own strength at a physical level, in addition to the reinforcement her aura was making to mine.

"Never!" I submitted to her passionate order. "Anyway, you are the best, Ivy Tamwood, You just have delivered a baby and you look beautiful! You are fresh as a spring morning. I don't know what I did to deserve you. But I'm yours for the rest of my life, and beyond!" she kissed my neck.

"Congratulations, ladies, it seems he doesn't consider any of you worthy of being his mate." Claire used my voice again. I was trying not to cry. The pain and the burning sensation were almost making me explode from inside out. I was hardly containing myself. I was dying. "Rachel, come here." she called me, I kissed Ivy's lips one last time and I wered, the blanket covering me fell to the ground. I walked slowly until I reached the witch at the center of the new circle. She poured a potion over me while she murmured in my ear two little phrases, in the tongue of our ancient mother. David was using a lighter to ignite several candles. Charmed candles, my nose told me, the flames on them would not go out unless a spell turned them off. I repeated the phrases on my mind, even though I didn't know what they meant. "Oh, oh, it looks like it's your turn to be evaluated for the alpha bitch position, Rache. That is good he will enter the circle for himself. See you soon. Fight, kiddo, with all you have left." She said quietly and she went out of the circle, she walked slowly backwards trying not to look threatening to the focus. "Ladies, you have to enter this circle, I have to protect you because is going to be very dangerous. Jenks, stay inside, if another demon comes, be sure nothing inside could break the circle!" she said. She was obeyed; and then she put a shield of ley line energy on them. David was besides Claire, almost touching the natural wall behind us.

I stood on my feet out of pride, and I watched the possessed wolf coming towards me. He was bigger than I was. I couldn't help remembering the damage that those jaws could do, I just had seen him kill demons and rip out the throats of several weres. The body of those weres lay scattered on the ground where they had fallen surrounded by pools of blood, which was slowly leaking out and spreading around the unconscious weres from the earlier fight, making it hard to tell just how many were just injured or asleep and who lay dead.

My heart refused to give in, I had to do this for my baby, and for Ivy, and for the sake of everyone; the focus had to be destroyed. The big yellowish eyes locked on mine entirely green now. I didn't move. The possessed wolf knew I wasn't a wolf, he saw my will, and then he sniffed at me. _They are not that different from man. Except for that, this is too direct and obvious._ Now he was sniffing at my rear end, I moved with a hostile growl. I surprised myself; the potion was cooling off my skin, acting almost as it was reinforcing the marks. Thanks to that, now I could move faster, the wolf didn't like it. He threw a bite towards me; it was a warning.

"Damn! I think he found you worthy, Rache!" Claire said to me. I growled displeased, and she laughed with my voice. "You can't blame him, for a wolf, you're kind of pretty!" she mocked me. The wolf grunted all menacing at me; I showed him my fangs giving him back an angry growl. He didn't like it. He tried to bite me, and I moved. We started a fight right there, we were biting and growling and scratching at each other. Nevertheless, he was stronger than I was; he pushed me out of the circle. I cried in a pained howl when he caught my front leg between his jaws, shattering my bone and he didn't let go, he wanted to hurt me bad, he wanted to tear me apart bit by bit, I just could tell. _Better and better, now he's pissed, Rache. And you can't use a leg. Why does my luck always have to suck?_

"Get inside the circle, Rache!" Claire shouted at me. _Damn! Is she blind or what? This animal is too strong for me! _I closed my jaws on his ear and I tore it off. He released my arm, but the damage was done, I couldn't use it. That pain added to the magical pain inside me, my entire body was already throbbing like a big heart, one beat away from blowing into pieces. The burnt was over, but the pain remained the same. A big were came to help me. David had wered, and he crashed all of his wolf body bigger than the actual wolf against it. I felt released when the weight and strength of the focus stopped pushing me. David missed the wolf's neck, but his jaws clenched on one back leg. He was pulling the savage animal inside the circle, but it was too strong, David could barely move it. I used my back legs to thrust my body forward and I crashed against both of them pushing all three of us just barely over the line and into the circle again. The pain in my front leg made me cry loudly again, I fell on the ground panting. I licked at my front leg trying to see the damage. Even the careful strokes from my tongue sent whiplashes of agony from the bite to my entire body, like if the bites of the wolf were charged on something else. This pain wasn't regular pain.

Claire raised the bubble of ever after to enclose the three of us within the circle. The focus gave the wolf an incredible strength and quickness. Trying to ignore the pain, I went to help David subdue it. However, even the both of us were no match for the wild force controlling the male wolf. He bit my head, the freaking wolf almost tore apart one of my ears, but David stepped in and bit him, my alpha male succeeded on free me from the painful bite, the blood reached my eye, blinding me partially and before I could react, his teeth sank into my back leg, almost on the hip. I saw David coming again, he had been thrown aside by the wolf in a way I couldn't see, but I felt, when his side clashed against me, and he turned into David's new attack. I fell to the ground and lost most of my air. The focus certainly had enhanced the strength, and now I could see the fangs and teeth glowing not from saliva, it was a kind of energy! That made its bites so painful.

My heart clenched when I saw how those fangs burying on the hind right leg of David, my alpha howled in pain. _Damn! David is in troubles because of me! I have to do something! _I forced my limp sane legs to move. I went to bite the wolf on his own rear leg, my claws, from the hind legs dug into his fur with all the strength I could gather, until the wolf turned against me. David took a moment to recover, I couldn't blame him, I knew the pain myself, and the weakening effect it was having on me, David had to feel it too, but he launched his body again, limping with the hind injured leg to help me. I could see his desperate and anguished eyes for a second; he was having doubts, just as I was. The wolf was too strong even for the both of us together! This was a fight for the very survival, we had made the focus mad at us, and the focus was having fun fighting against two challengers at once. Even so, it was having the best part on the fight.

I couldn't keep up with the quickness of the focus, and every time David came to attack at the wolf to give me chance of recovering. He was having the worst part by far, being David the male, and the stronger of the both of us, the focus knew David was more dangerous than I was for him; and the focus wanted to kill him painfully. I had no idea how David was enduring this unfair fight, but I could no less than admiring him more than I already did. _David is doing this for me! To help me!_ _He is the best alpha male, no doubt! _I was almost on the verge of falling exhausted and pained to the ground and not to move anymore. The paws and claws did damage too to my ribs, and my back, and every place they scratched and stepped down on forcedly. David was falling and coming for more every time; to help me, and I did the same for him, putting aside the pain for now. We were both dead if the spell didn't work. The barking, the growling, the grunting of the three of us was a loud mass of confusion, our three furry bodies were intertwined most of the time, as we fought for supremacy.

I was thrown away for maybe the tenth time, and I was panting, almost giving in on the blackness that was surrounding me slowly. My body was too weakened, I couldn't move for some moments, even take air inside my lungs was too painful. I was slowly letting the darkness to get me, and then I heard it again, this time it wasn't Ivy, but my kids who called at me. Their mental screams were calling me. Then I realized, I was fainting, my body too beaten to react but my heart pumped again furiously at the scared screams of my daughters. _I had to live! I want to be there when my baby vamp born! I have to teach Tammy to be a responsible witch, and use her gifts in the right way! I have to live for Ivy!_ I got aware of what was happening near me.

David was fighting with the wild wolf and then I saw him fell on one side, when the wolf's jaws caught his neck, _I_ _have to do something to help him! This is my fault, my responsibility! I have to destroy the focus!_ I jumped with an adrenalin rush and went to bite furiously the neck of the possessed wolf, for the first time exposed to me.

I heard the voice of Claire murmuring a very complicated chanting and I repeated again the phrases she gave me, inside my mind. Then I could feel the power inside me, moving towards my throat, and my teeth, and my fangs. I bit harder. David managed to release himself, and he bit down the other side of the wolf's neck, putting his big paws on the bloody body to hold him down for me. I couldn't use more than one. But the spell for liberating the souls was already in motion, and my blood and flesh were filtering the demonic curses I had inside in order to turning them into the spell Claire was chanting once and again. I could hear the wild howling of the wolf pack all around us. They started to howl to the moon between the clouds. They were as mesmerized by the fight as the remaining weres still standing, and our pack, and Ivy, Jenks, and Erica. They were cheering for us; asking us not to give up. That gave me the strength I was already lacking to keep biting. Reminding me of the very reason why I was doing this.

None of us knew when the vamps arrived. A chilly current of fear ran through my entire body when I saw David falling, becoming a man again. He was much debilitated from the ordeal. First, the demon took the focus out of him; and after he was beaten and bitten by the very focus, he owned just minutes before. The bites were bad, but the worst was upon his neck, the last one. The wolf now wasn't moving as much, but I couldn't let go, if I let him go, he would recover and would kill the both of us. I moved a bit, I still had two healing potions I touched David with my front paw, getting both my rear paws on the wolf, with my weight over to hold him down. A tiny part of me gave to David the healing potion, meanwhile the main part was making the wild spirit and the soul trapped inside the focus to emerge from the wolf. When the bleeding bites on David stopped spilling blood, I focused totally on the other spell.

A bright light sphere just burst out of the flinching, hurt body of the wild wolf and then I let the poor animal go. I was panting badly. My mouth was all bloody, leaking the red liquid both sides, along with saliva. I gathered myself for a second. The deed wasn't complete yet. I panted and stiffened my body. _This is going to hurt badly. Courage, Rache, she told you; you are strong enough, just a little more and this is done!_ That moment I felt again Ivy's strength pouring inside my body, giving me the physical capability my exhausted body hadn't anymore. I looked at her, her eyes were totally black, focused on me, I gave her my version of a very scary wolf smile, scary because the blood dripping out of it. I took a deep breath before jumping against the light sphere; a very weird sensation filled my entire body when I stayed suspended in the middle of it. I repeated the invocations Claire gave me, as my body seemed to explode in little pieces, my marks glowed, letting out the remains of the curses I reaped off from the demons, and I tapped the line to empower the spell as I felt totally drained from energy.

Claire dropped the circle; she was also feeding the spell with ley line energy. The old reaper was once again oozing with the sizzling energy she was taking from the line, she could handle much more than I was capable of handling, both her hands lifted towards the focus and me. The sphere grew bigger and bigger and it began to spin as it was elevating up, higher into the air. I was inside the sphere and I could hear the raging swirls of spiritual energy as it was rejecting the soul attached to it. I could feel the wrath of the soul imbedded in the focus; the soul was the one refusing to get free. I knew I had to do something, I was feeling sickly dizzy with the spinning speeding up every second.

I had to make a stand. My goal was destroying the focus. The wolf spirit wanted out, I had to empower it. The swirling got worst when I redirected my energy towards the spirit. I felt how it came to me, how it covered me, and possessed me. My first reaction was rejection, but the second it took control, the swirling wasn't making me sick and drowsy anymore. The nausea subsided. I felt gratitude, gratitude towards me, I understood then it was the were's soul, with its ambition to rule all the weres, the one we had to fight against, together. I knew the wolf spirit would leave my body the moment it got free. So, agreeing to help it, I let the feral part in me to take control to work together with the spirit. My body channeled the energy required for the task; the swirls of energy composing the sphere began to separate into two distinctive ones. While it was going higher into the sky, with me trapped inside it.

My soul and my spirit aligned with the wolf's spirit to reject the were's soul, stubbornly clinging to us. Soon the swirling motion was very natural, and my sight began to focus again. I concentrated in my body as much Ley line energy as I could even when my cells begged me to stop. I continued draining the line and repeating the invocations, barely conscious until I felt on fire once again, the sphere split in half when I released all the energy in a wave directed at the soul. Finally, the spirit left me, running away from the other half. The soul couldn't follow it, because I threw a confusion spell at it, it took the opposite way raging over the vanishing of its conquerors dream. I began to fall in the chilly air while both the halves of the sphere exploded like a fireworks display, very far away, one of the other, before them, both vanished. I was falling to the ground; I knew I was very high. There was no way I could survive a fall from this height I would hit the ground and die on impact.

My mind couldn't begin to fear the dreadful and mortal landing because Shar caught me in the air with her jaws and she flew down gently with me only with her wings spread, riding on the freezing air currents. The coldness woke me up enough, and the pulls on my injured fur from the caring jaws of the gargoyle, sending waves of pain through my nerves. I saw the menacing pack surrounding a naked and barely conscious David. I moved, and Shar let me go from only 6 feet high. I managed to land and stand on my three good legs in front of David, and I saw the agonizing alpha male wolf just in front of me. We nearly killed him. I used my last healing potion to cure the poor wolf, touching it with my good front paw. After that, I growled menacing to his pack; I had to defend my alpha male. He ended up in this state defending me. Shar landed in front of Claire with a loud thud, taking a defensive position as well. The wild wolf stood up and growled at his pack. The eight wolves stopped. David sat down slowly and he stared at the wild wolves before us, they were still menacing, showing their fangs and teeth to us with alarming growls and grunts, as I was doing to them. Then the wild alpha locked his yellowish eyes on me, and I saw his gratitude, he didn't like being a slave of the focus. He approached me and we stared at each other, then he went away, with a howling of goodbye, his pack went after him. I howled too and then I almost collapsed besides David. Sitting on my hind quarters, it hurt a lot I had bites on them. My alpha male shook his head, supporting my shaken body, with a hug.

"That was something!" he said. "I must say, Rache. You really have the biggest pair I ever have seen besides my own." He chuckled and gave me a shake. I made an acute whining sound of air passing my throat. "Oh, I'm sorry, you're really beaten up." He let me go.

"What was that?" Kimberly Tamwood's voice was commanding and we all turned towards her. She was walking towards us, along with Rynn Cormel and Robert Randal. There was a bunch of vamps watching over the standing weres. Kimberly was wearing a leather outfit, trousers and a long coat, she had a sword on one hand, she was stunning! She look dangerous, chick and beautiful at the same time! She surely could fill the image of elegant bad girl for sure, as well as Ivy did! With her long hair trapped in a ponytail. Robert had black trousers and a black sweater with a jacket, tall and he had the sword in the sheath attached to the back with a leather belt. Rynn was using one of his expensive suits, in blue. There were at least 20 vamps all in black, some tall, some short, some muscular, some thin, some women as well, all strikingly menacing, with different kind of weapons watching over the standing and wounded weres, scattered in pairs along the clearing. Kimberly put her sword inside the coat, hanging from a holder inside.

"That was the focus. Now it's gone forever, mom." Ivy said, she was covered with a blanket and sitting on another, with our baby wrapped in yet another warm blanket on her arms. If nothing else, I had learnt you could never have too many warm blankets.

"Oh God, no!" Robert approached her "Remove this thing right now, Rachel!" he ordered to Claire, whom was now checking on me, and my multiple wounds.

"She's not Rachel, dad." Erica said. "But she is a witch as well."

"Don't even think about turning back into a witch, Rachel!" The cook said to me. "You are totally contaminated with spiritual energy. If you change, you'll lose your arm and your ear." She warned me concerned. "I have to clean your body and it's not going to be pleasant, kiddo." That warning made me flinch. _More pain? Better and better, it is the crappy story of my life! But now I know for sure the pain of the bites were due to that. _

"Rachel?" Rynn Cormel looked at the both of us. I barked quietly at him. "Are you Rachel?" I nodded.

"No names, please, Mr. Cormel. You know who I am. You like my food." Claire told him. The undead Master Vamp blinked astonished for a few seconds. "We have to go fast to attend to all of them, Ivy is almost fine but she is exhausted, and she needs a bath. The baby had a bit of trouble but she is going to be fine too. Rachel is in much worst shape. She is bleeding, and I have to stitch her quickly. Mr. Hue has his own pains too. Erica's nose is well attended by now. You know where I live; we are going there. I have all the necessary items to cure them." She said very professionally. She used the professional voice better than I did. She went towards the rest of our group and touched the bubble of ever after protecting them. The bubble vanished and Robert went immediately to Ivy, he sighed in relief when he could hear the breathing of our baby.

"Did you do all of this?" Rynn looked around; almost two thirds of the weres were sleeping, or unconscious, or dead.

"We're a wild bunch, Rynn." Erica said proudly while her father lifted Ivy bridal style, with no effort. "May we explain after the bath?" she asked hopeful.

"I will explain." Ms. Sarong approached. "We weren't aware of the dirty play Finley had planned, Mr. Cormel."

"That's true. She was confronting them the moment she knew we were attacked and abducted by that guy." Erica pointed to the wounded Mr. Finley. He was very pale now. His shoulder was still bleeding despite the bandage someone put on him.

"I was asked to witness a challenge, and to arbitrate it. I hadn't any idea of the true intentions of Finley and Vincent." Ms. Sarong continued.

"Where is Vincent?" Rynn asked.

"The focus killed him." Ms. Sarong answered him, shrugging her shoulders; she didn't care in the least about him.

"I have heard of the savagery on the were's challenges, but this is worse than I expected. I thought you said it was a piece of cake, Rachel." The master vamp sounded accusatory at me.

"It was, she almost killed the challenger and she didn't receive a single bite from her. She was injured fighting the focus and the demons they brought to steal it from Mr. Hue." The old alpha bitch explained to him, and then she turned to face David "I must say, Mr. Hue. Now I understand why you prefer having Miss Morgan as your alpha bitch instead of looking for a were. She is a very courageous young woman, and you're a very courageous young man and she stands by you, as an alpha must do. I saw her defending you more than once tonight and I saw you backing her up the same way. Even though you aren't a couple, you are a great team. I have known very few so worthy of being alphas. I will send you season tickets, VIP, for your entire pack and I will lift the banning of Miss Morgan from the stadium." She offered honestly. She was very well impressed.

"Well, Rachel and I are best friends, Ms. Sarong and I know I can trust and relay on her with my life. As she can trust and relay on me with hers. She saved my life at least three times the past hour. She stood up against a whole wild pack for me. I don't think I can find a were capable of that." David said standing slowly. He was naked, but he was being very natural and no one stared at his genitalia. I saw relieved that he hadn't any bite visible; the healing spell had cured all the physical damage.

"I really hope you find a nice were to breed, David. We need more males like you, even if Miss Morgan remains your alpha. You are a worthy man; children are a blessing. Even Miss Morgan can tell you, since her partner in life just had a baby." Ms. Sarong said honestly.

"Go on ahead, I will explain to Mr. Cormel everything and I will be there. The baby needs to be in a warm place, and you need medical attention." David reached his pants. "I think Rachel is too tired right now." He spared a look to me.

"I will carry her, David. Don't worry." Serena came to lift me gently. "Are we taking your car?"

"No, you will take one of mine." Rynn turned towards the noise up on the top of the wall, alerted.

"Sorry, it's just me. I don't think I can find the jeep in the dark." Renata shouted. "How is everybody?"

"I will guide her, don't worry. We'll be just behind you." Shar offered.

"I will go with them too, to check on Jhan." Jenks said. Ivy nodded to him. Jenks was a bit excited, and he didn't want to clash with Ivy's mom.

"Thank you." Claire nodded. "Shar will go with you, love. They are a bit hurt. We're going home to take care of the wounds." She shouted too.

"Ok."

"I'm assuming she was shooting that rifle from above, a sniper in a privileged position." Rynn said.

"Yes, she put to sleep almost half of the sleeping weres, she can sure shoot." David smiled. "I'll have to buy her something nice to thank her for helping."

We ended up in a hummer, Ivy insisted on me riding with them, even her mom didn't approve it. Serena put me inside once they were inside already. It was modified, and the space was enough for Serena and Cali and Claire. She brought with her the backpack with medical supplies. Serena took the other seat by the driver. Cali came to help Claire with the bandages. The hummer engine revved and we darted out of there. Claire made me laid on my belly, over one of the blankets, in one of the seats. _Thank God for the luxurious taste of Rynn_! His seats were soft and comfy! Ivy was by my other side. Cali took the backpack and began to pull out of it bandages. Claire told to the driver the address and began to examine my fur gently. Kimberly, Robert and Erica were seating in front of us. Kimberly was frowning the entire time. I didn't have the strength to be seated the entire way to Claire's home. Besides, sitting was hurtful because the bites on my rear quarters. The broken leg was passing the bill right now; I just wanted a pain amulet! But Claire seemed to think differently. Ivy was at my other side, seeing with an anxious face as Claire was putting bandages over my bleeding wounds. Our baby witch was still on her arms, covered tightly by the baby blankets.

"How is this possible?" Robert was checking on the baby now she was asleep. I looked at her too, sure that the pain was worth it to see her exhausted but at peace now. He only uncovered the little face. She still was all smeared with dry blood and amniotic fluid. She had a mane of curly black hair and big slightly almond shaped eyes. She looked like Ivy, with a little perfect heart shaped mouth of full lips.

"I have told you, dad. About Rachel's guesses, it turns out she wasn't hallucinating. I still have a vampire baby inside my womb and we already have a baby witch." Ivy explained with a smile, watching our baby in her arms, her facial expression adoring our Tammy!

"But she looks just like you, V. She is so gorgeous!" Erica was leaning over her from the front seat to get a better view. "Wow, she has blue eyes!" she blinked when the little one opened them, with an adorable yawn.

"Yes, the same color of Donald's eyes." Ivy sighed and looked at me "How are you holding up, Rache?"

"She will recover. It will just take one or two weeks, sweetie." Claire was covering the worst bites on my body with clean bandages. "The baby has to eat again, Ivy. I have some cleaning wipes in here." She looked into the medical backpack. "Here you go." she offered the little package. "Just clean your breast. The baby will need some water as soon as we arrive." She remembered with a tiny smile.

Ivy sighed, but she did exactly that, she cleaned her right breast, covering with the blanket from everybody's looks, and then she approached our little one. The baby moved, and struggled until her arms got out the blanket wrapping her, the little hands reached for the breast. I gasped. She had marks, and the vamps could see it now!

"How dare you mark my granddaughter like that?" Kimberly exclaimed her voice nothing but a low angry hiss too quiet for the baby to hear and be upset by it.

"That was my fault, Ms. Tamwood." Claire said. "When I made the potion for turning into Rachel physic form, I forgot the tattoos. So, I made another with the tattoos just in case I had to take off the jacket. But regrettably, it leaked all over the blanket and well Tammy will be marked only for few months. It will wear out eventually, in an adult, it would take only few days to wear out, but she is a baby, so it will take longer and most of her body got covered in it. I'm very sorry. With the rushing, I didn't check properly and I used a bad cap on the vial. That happens when you buy them by the box, one in five hundred is defective." She was lying, but she seemed so ashamed, and sincere. _She is protecting our secret! She doesn't want more than me that the vamps know about the reaper thing!_

"How do you end up like this, Miss Britt?" Robert asked.

"Rachel knew Ivy had been abducted, and she asked me to use my spelling kitchen in the way to the warehouse, to avoid suspicions from the weres. She was afraid they would kill Ivy and Erica if they even thought we could do something to ruin their scheme. Indeed, she was correct. The masterminds behind the trap planned on killing them both, once they had killed Rachel, using them as leverage to convince her not to defend herself in the challenge. Their candidate had orders to kill her." The witch explained.

"Once they had the focus they planned on start a war with the vamps, and killing the Tamwood heiress, her unborn children and the Randal heiress would be an outrageous statement. Rachel didn't call Mr. Cormel until she freed them from the weres. If the vamps acted to rescue them, they were doomed to die first. Rachel wasn't about to take that risk. I offered to help her when she told me about her plan. If I posed like her, the weres couldn't know what was really happening until it was too late to harm any of them. I'm a witch too. So I could do a convincing impersonation."

"Why? That makes no sense, Miss Britt." Kimberly crossed femininely one leg over the other; it was a very elegant gesture on that woman and the arching of her eyebrow! It seemed it was something both Tamwood women could do and I wondered briefly if it would be a talent my babies would inherit. "Why kill Rachel in a challenge?"

"Revenge, Rachel found the focus, and Walter Vincent's wife died during the challenge against Rachel. He wanted her dead and Mr. Finley hated her since the moment he couldn't get rid of her in her first challenge. Despite the fact it had also been a trap. He was the one looking bad in his people's eyes and ambition has to do with it too. *They could kill Rachel, as a personal vendetta, and then they had a clear shot at the focus. They thought that just by owning the focus they could win the war; that they could rule over the entire inderlander population. What a pair of small minded fools!" she said dismissively. I nodded. Claire used my body much better than me; she was elegant, calmed, and cool_. If I asked nicely maybe she would be willing to give me a few tips._

"We're almost there, Ms. Tamwood." The driver announced "And there is a jeep approaching on us at considerable speed."

"That is Renata, my daughter. She likes driving over the speed limit. I taught her myself, and I'm afraid I passed on to her my weakness for speeding." She pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed a number. "Hey, kiddo, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm right behind you, Claire. It doesn't look like you have a vamp driver; that one drives like an old lady." We all could hear her excited voice on the speaker.

"We asked him to go slowly, kiddo, we have injured people in here, the bumps on the road are hurtful, and the baby is feeding, we need to go at moderated pace." She said amused with my voice.

"Oh, right, sorry, I wasn't thinking. I will go on ahead and I'll make arrangements. You ask Ms. Tamwood and Mr. Randal to spend the day. I will make sure the basement accommodations are in line, ok?"

"Good idea, kiddo. It will take me a good while stitching up Rachel, and I want to make sure Ivy is perfectly ok, before sending them home."

"How's the baby doing?" she asked her concern was obvious.

"She will be fine. Now she is very busy drinking milk from her mom and she hasn't cried anymore. She looks just like Ivy." the cook smiled.

"Lucky girl, she will be a heartbreaker." Renata said relieved. "If you say she will be fine, then you are the doctor, Claire, and you know better. I'm glad for all of them. I can't wait to see her. Give Ivy my congrats." She asked getting playful again. "Really, Claire, you have to teach me how to handle the knives. That was awesome!" Renata said excited.

"Your mom was a real ace with them, maybe I can teach you. We will talk about it." She smiled.

"We have to do an adventure journey; you have to show me where you met mom. You will tell me everything!"

"Of course I will, sweetie. How are Shar and Rez?"

"They are joking with Jhan. Jhan recorded everything, just like Jenks asked him to do. I have the laptop in here. In case Mr. Cormel wants to check on it. Is Rachel too bad?"

"She will live. But she has a very unpleasant couple of weeks ahead, kiddo."

"Tell her she is crazy! How could she even think about attacking demons and worse that psycho wolf?"

"I believe she wasn't thinking and she had to attack it, Rena. If she hadn't, that wolf would have raped her. That was the very thing he was looking for, an alpha bitch." The cook explained "You would had done the same thing in her place, kiddo. Maybe not with the demons, but you already fought off an alpha male rejecting him." She said getting serious.

"Don't think about that, Claire." She asked, "I survived, and he is past history. See you at home." She played her claxon passing alongside the hummer very fast as she hung up.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I am setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, time to settle down and to lick the wounds obtained in the last fight. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Hi, guys, this is for letting you know I'm going to extend the updating on this story to every other week, I'm a little stuck on it, and I need more time to get on track again. Thanks for reading. I hope you will cope with my delayed muse.

Natasha, thank you for your help in the corrections of this chapter, and for your insights. I remain in your debt, sunshine.

CHAPTER 16

Ms. Tamwood and Erica took Ivy and our baby, to help them bathing. They desperately needed to get cleaned up. Claire took me to her spell kitchen and she bathed me on the enormous sink, she was careful, but I was in pain. I was covered in blood: my blood and blood from the possessed wolf and even David's blood. Not to mention the saliva from the last fight. Renata gave rooms to everyone. They had a big basement with three luxurious rooms for undead visitors, accommodations like a play room, a living room, bar, an office, and even a pool down there. Not all undead vamps ruled the underworld; some had legitimate businesses: book publishing, TV production, advertising companies, etc. So Claire and Renata, being involved on all that sort of things on their own business, were prepared for having undead guests. David arrived almost one hour after us and he went directly to the spell kitchen. Claire was still cleaning me up.

"Hi, how is she?" he asked his concern for me was clear in his voice.

"Well, she's still dirty. I have to wash her very well to avoid any infection. She won't be able to take another bath until she is healed, Mr. Hue."

"David, Madam. Please call me by my name. After tonight, I think we are friends." He smiled shyly. He surely was adorable when he was being shy around women. Nobody could tell he was a fierce Were capable of bringing down the focus itself!

"Well, in that case, David, you stop calling me madam and use my name too." She smiled at him, she was still using my form and the smile was my smile. She had changed out of the leather clothes, and she was now wearing sweats, much better for cleaning a dirty wolf.

"Thanks, Claire. For everything." He smiled honestly grateful; he had a bad time tonight as well, feeling responsible for me, and the safety of his ex-girlfriends and the only members of our pack. He had fought like a warrior, a true warrior, always in control of his emotions, always taking care of us! He didn't give up at any moment despite his doubts; he was willing to fight to the death for me. He was indeed a best friend! Now, he was checking on me before get any rest, and before going to check on our ladies!

"It was a pleasure, my boy. I haven't had so much excitement in decades." She chuckled and rinsed my fur again, trying to get out the foam from the shampoo. As gentle as she was being to me, her hands were firm and sent waves of throbbing pain through my nerves when they insisted on the bites and scratches on my torn fur. I knew she had to clean thoroughly to avoid infections, but it was painful, I couldn't avoid some whining, my legs felt so shaky, so unable to support my weight for much longer. My broken arm was the worst part, I felt like if my nerves were alive and exposed there. "I know it hurts, kiddo, but it's necessary." Claire hurried. David spared me a pained look, and he caressed my jaw.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get in time to avoid him to do that, Rache." He said, and I licked his hand to comfort him. "I'm a bit confused. I was injured, I was covered in very bad bites, and now, I only feel an unpleasant, but bearable sensation like an old burn, Claire." David said doubtfully.

"Rachel healed you, lad. She used a healing spell on you. The bites on your neck and on your leg both reached important veins. You were bleeding to death. She also healed the agonizing wolf; that's what saved you both from being slaughtered by his pack." She explained to him. David blinked and looked at me, partly surprised, partly grateful. I touched his palm with my nose, making a reassuring wolf noise. We see each other at the eyes, and he nodded smiling, knowing I had his back, as he had mine back there. Then he blushed and guilt showed upon his handsome features, seeing the water washing away the blood from my injuries. He surely was thinking I should cure myself instead of him. His beard was showing already in a shadow over his jaws, chin and cheeks, surely he was an attractive man; I could see why Renata had a crush on him, and why Serena and Cali had love him. David had this vulnerable and sensitive look, but the strong quality of his will showed at the same time.

"The burning sensation is a result of the contamination of spiritual energy from the bites of the focus. I'll give you a potion for cleansing your body. It should disappear in three or four days tops." She said confident. "Rache is so much more contaminated than you, the healing potion would be useless on herself, so don't feel guilty for that. She loves you like a brother, David. She had to do something to save you and at last, you are free from the focus as well. How are you holding up with that?" she started to rub me again with more shampoo. My shaky legs protested, but I stifled the weakness, I didn't want him to feel worse.

"I feel released to be honest. Every day was a struggle to control it, now I can be myself again. I can drink a beer without thinking that would weaken my will and I could lose control over the focus. Now I cannot infect anyone and if I feel like it, I can go into a fight without fear of killing someone out of rage because I lost the control on the focus. I just feel I can breathe better." He said. I was feeling so guilty. David had been through hell and it was my entire fault. "Thanks for destroying it, both of you." He smiled. Renata entered with jeans and a sweatshirt. she had taken a shower, her hair was still wet, and free. She was energetic, the fight still had adrenaline flooding her system, she looked so much younger like this, and I would swear she was still a College girl. She had found out about the hidden part in both, her mother and her surrogate mother. A side exciting and dangerous. She had help us, and witnessed how three demons were killed, certainly a sight reserved only to reapers. I didn't want to think now in the nightmare it was going to be later. Renata had a spare pair of jeans and a sweatshirt in her hands, too big for me.

"Hi, David. Rez is going to take you to a room so you can take a shower and to have a nice nap. I got you some clean clothes too. I hope they fit." She offered the clothes to him in a casual gesture.

"Thanks, that's not necessary, I..." he trailed off a bit nervous, he always had behaved like this when an attractive woman was interested in him; he knew she fancied him.

"Go, David. I need time to finish with Rachel, but you will need that potion. Go and get some rest, lad. We'll talk later, and I would like to take a look at you as well." The cook shushed him in a motherly fashion. Which was a bit odd, since she still was using my image and I was younger than David was.

"Thank you." He gave in; his face had a pink tinge when he took the clothes from Rena, and if I had been human, I would have laughed at his embarrassment.

"This way!" Rez's voice sounded like it had come from the floor. He hung the jeans and the sweatshirt on his shoulder.

"Guide me, little one." He asked friendly and picked her up to carry her on his arm like a Kitten.

"Aren't you afraid of touching a gargoyle, Mr. Hue?" She was amazed.

"Why should I be afraid of a little pretty one like you, Rez?" he caressed her back.

"All of you are so weird!" the little gargoyle giggled. "It's not an insult, Mr. Hue. It's only that mom had warned me so much about people." She added quickly.

"And she is right, little one. Most people are afraid of different species. One can't remain afraid when one hangs around Rache. She lives with pixies, a living vamp, a gargoyle, and she is friend with weres, witches, humans, and even an elf. She has no prejudices, Rez and she is happier than those who are afraid. By the way, how is the baby?" he chatted with the little gargoyle as he went away. With a goodbye gesture of his hand, he closed the inner door after him. "Could we pass to say hi to Ivy and my pack in the way?"

Renata helped Claire to finish bathing me. Then after drying my fur, they put me on one of the central counters, over a clean folded white sheet. I tried not to cry much, but she was stitching me with just a rare spray that only numbed partially the pain. The pain amulets didn't work. She showed me with one of my own. The contamination of spiritual energy made them useless and the antiseptic! It burnt like hell! The door opened as I was twitching, under the firm hands of Renata, who was holding me down to avoid sudden movements, as Claire worked with the needle and the suture. Ivy entered walking, in a robe, and slippers. I froze; I didn't want to worry her. _She just had a baby! Passing an entire baby through a space so little, that sure hurts! And here I am, crying for a little needle!_ I kicked myself mentally. Her parents and Rynn entered behind her. Robert was carrying a chair, Ivy sat down on it and Jenks was sitting on her shoulder, humming one of his favorite after battle songs.

"How is Tammy?" Claire asked.

"Clean and asleep, she emptied two entire bottles of water. Erica is watching over her with Jhan." Ivy said worried. "How is Rachel?"

"Whining like a girly girl. I really don't get it. She fights like a true warrior, she falls, she picks herself up and she goes to get more scratches and bites, over and over. But the moment she sits down to rest she begins to cry like a baby." Claire laughed amused, stitching my left hind leg with her usual mastery.

"That is our Rache!" Jenks agreed with her, chuckling. "But she is a witch, you should see her when she loses too much blood, she always wants to get up for cooking some potion or other. Tink's tities!" he flew over me. "What's that?" he suddenly sounded scared.

"A bite, but it tore the muscle a bit, so, I have to put it back together, if I don't she will have a limp for the rest of her life. It's no big deal. Once everything is in place, when she turns back into witch she will be fine." She gave me three stitches even as she talked to Jenks.

"It looks bad!" Jenks said worried, almost scared.

"It isn't. I have done this a lot of times and it's not that serious, believe me, Jenks." The old cook said with my voice. "There!" she cut the suture. "Now we can join the skin, it won't hurt that much, kiddo." She took with the pliers another curved needle already set with the suture.

"Can't you use a pain amulet or something?" Ivy asked worried.

"The spiritual contamination she has now prevents the magic from functioning properly, Ivy. I'm using an anesthetic." The freaking burning spray reached all over the extension of the wound, maybe it wasn't big for Claire, but for me it was bigger than the Grand Canyon. "Of course human medicine means crap to a witch used to instant relief." She shrugged her shoulders. Surely, she could not do more, but she didn't have to enjoy herself this much. Well, that was Claire's way. She always saw the things humorously. Nothing was a big deal for her.

"Why are you still impersonating Rachel, Ms. Britt?" Rynn Cormel asked a little coldly.

"I haven't had time to take a shower. I need a bath with salt water to get rid of the effect of this potion, Mr. Cormel, and after that, a real bath to get rid of the salt before dries my skin. However, with these kinds of injuries, it is best to treat them as fast as possible. She could lose an ear. It was hanging by only a bit of cartilage, but it was irrigated, so it didn't dry out and I could do a fine reattachment. As for the arm, the muscle was torn as well, and it took me half an hour just to get that fairly stitched before setting the leg, the bone is broken in two different places. A bit more and the focus would have severed it from her body. Good one that, kiddo, biting his ear saved your arm." She patted my head, as if I was a pet dog. "She will be fine." She started to stitch again. Ivy was watching me with a pained expression upon her face. She was suffering for me, again. _How do I always manage to get hurt, and make her worried and anguished?_ I kicked myself once more.

"I just saw the video that the little pixie made. Very impressive indeed. So the focus was destroyed for good?" the master vamp asked.

"Yes. I used a powerful spiritual spell to free the spirit from the curse that kept it attached to a were's soul. In fact, the wolves helped a lot; they acted like a coven. Their energy enabled the trapped wolf's spirit to escape. The fact David was the one subduing him, that made the were's soul feel defeated maybe for the first time. Rachel acted like a channel for the magic, and being a female she didn't count to him. That soul hadn't been really threatened for centuries. David not only kept it under his control while it was inside of him, but he physically subdued the wolf despite the enhancements the focus gave it. Maybe he was the only were capable of resisting the influence of the focus, since he was use to fight it for quite a time. Now the focus doesn't exist." She explained but she was working on me at the same time.

"Unless another ambitious were can convince a demon to manufacture another focus." Ivy pointed out worried.

"That's very unlikely, Ivy. Only a few demons could do that, and the payment they would require would be a problem. The times have changed, sweetie. When the focus was created, it wasn't rare that one single man or woman had power over hundreds or thousands of others, and then to sacrifice hundreds for a purpose like that was acceptable to them. Now it would be so difficult to find even a dozen willing to sacrifice or accept the order of being sacrificed for something. You saw it, now the were alphas have ambitions but they don't unite, because they want the benefits exclusively for themselves, but not for the totality of their race, and the packs are too small to achieve that. The division is too great." The cook dismissed the idea.

"Are they planning on any retaliation for the loss of the focus?" Kimberly Tamwood cut to the chase, she didn't care about me or the unlikely possibilities, Kim cared about things threatening her line.

"No, we will arrange the PR, Kim. The blame is going to the ones whom hired witches for bringing the demons. It was one demon that retrieved the focus and the one that put it inside the wolf. That was its own undoing, because the focus ended up killing the three demons." Rynn informed us with a smug. "I thought killing a demon was impossible." His features showed some uncertainty at the last comment.

"Well, it turns out it is possible when you are a magically forged creature with the power of a soul and a spirit combined with a body built to kill. I wasn't aware of what was happening outside the circle, Ivy was giving birth to Tammy, and I had to focus on that. The placenta came first, that could be dangerous for the baby, luckily Ivy is very strong, and it was very fast, only took her two pushes, and Tammy was out. I cleaned her quickly and I was trying to cover her from the cold when I felt the hit, I didn't see who hit me, but I knew it was ley line energy, it just about fried my shoulder's nerves. Next thing I knew another bolt hit me and I was crashing against something hard." She said her expression pensive, but still working with that damn needle, she looked at my eyes for a second, and I could feel a warning feeling coming from her.

"When I woke up I was really angry, and I saw a wild wolf glowing with spiritual energy rabidly attacking a demon, and another demon getting on his feet, I attacked at him, it was the bigger danger, the wolf was too close to the girls and I could hit them too if I attacked the wolf. To my surprise, the wolf went to attack the demon I hit. What happened, Ivy?" she asked my partner, cutting that suture, to take yet another needle already set with more suture, I only hoped she finished stitching me, the pain of the needle going through my skin didn't let me focus on the conversation, and it forced me to try not to collapse on a burst of crying.

"Well, I saw that man appearing just by your side, I knew it was a demon the moment he hit you with ley line energy. Then I took the sword and put it through him, he didn't let Tammy go, so I punched his leg, but." She shook her head, shuddering at the memory. "I didn't even see the other demon until Rachel crashed into him, but then I saw the knife he had. So I'm guessing Rache had to attack him first to stop him from using it on me." She looked at me. I gave her a little bark; it was a bit of a shaky bark, since Claire was still nailing my furry skin with the stitches. "Then the freaking wolf came and it started killing the demon Rachel was trying to shush away. At that point, Rachel helped me to free Tammy, the demon had a magical burning thing on her; I think I really nailed him with the sword." Ivy was gloomy now, and doubtful. She knew she couldn't let Rynn to know about my secret capabilities regarding demons.

"Don't worry, sweetie, Tammy is going to be OK, the healing spell cured her, that's for sure. Rache did a pretty fine job on her. At this point I only can speculate what happened with the focus." She looked at the master vamp and he nodded for her to go on. Then she reassumed to the painful stitching on my hip. "I don't know why it ended up inside a wild wolf. The focus was the fusion of a powerful were alpha male soul, and the wild spirit of a wolf. The soul took control of a lesser mind immediately and it wanted revenge for being trapped for centuries. Since it was not bound to a higher consciousness, and it hadn't a complicated mind to fight, the focus just owned its new vessel. Then all the will it counted was the one of the were's soul, so the focus saw the opportunity of taking revenge on the demons for its imprisonment and it seized it. Rachel was distracting him, and the focus went to kill him, immediately. Ivy really had to have hurt the third demon badly with the sword, and Rachel attacked him with ley line energy to free Tammy." She smiled to me, giving me a little breath on the painful wound closing. I took a deep breath and then I nodded. She began to stitch again! "The focus enjoyed the first killing and he went for more. It was the one who gave it the chance with the last one, I stunned the demon and the focus didn't waste its chance." She said pensive. "Or maybe I got it all wrong and the focus only needed a lesser brain unable to defy it by the control of its new body to manifest in all its mighty and mythical power. Ok, this one's done, Rache." She cut the suture. "Do you want some water?"

My head moved in negation. I was staring at the vamps. Rynn Cormel seemed interested and he never gave away his true thoughts. Claire turned my body the other side, just by rolling me over my back; I never stopped seeing at the vamps. The cook began with the injuries I had on there; they were far less serious.

"I can't blame you, Rachel. You said the challenge was an easy thing for you to win, and it was. Very impressive, you didn't let the woman even react. I didn't know you had a killer instinct." The master vamp said to me, giving away his suspicions about my real dangerousness.

"As a wolf, she has. She cannot restrain herself or control her anger fully. It's not the first time I witnessed that." Jenks said. "And she was really pissed off, because they threatened Ivy's life and the babies' as well." He didn't hide his approval for my actions then.

"We were very afraid of what had happened, when I received the news that Ivy and Erica were kidnapped. I just couldn't believe it!" the blue eyes of the undead male turned almost black. "My apologies for that, I thought we had planned very well for the appointment. They attacked at the hospital, just when she was finishing her medical exams. They used witches; it was a very well planned ambush." His jaws were tense. He was angry that they had been outsmarted by the weres.

"Thank Heaven they didn't kill any of the boys and you are a great medic, Claire." Ivy sighed, seeing how Claire was still stitching my fur. "And Vet."

"That's very impressive indeed, Miss Britt. I took the liberty to check on you. You studied medicine in Oxford, Veterinary in Paris. But some parts of your life are blurry" Rynn again became pleasant and polite; Claire didn't seemed upset by the intruding investigation on her.

"Of course, Mr. Cormel, I had a very busy life outside of the colleges. I have seen most of the world at its worst and its best. I learned to cook on pirates' ships. I was a rebellious, angry girl during my youth. You know how it is to be an outcast. I was one for most of my life. Those years my lifestyle wasn't looked upon favorably by society. I have always loved women and I was fed up of hiding it when I was young." Claire said so confident, so firmly, with my voice, I could see the brightness on Ivy's eyes, and I gave myself some more proverbial kicks in the ass again inside my mind. I was so mean to her just because she loved me, and I didn't want to accept I loved her the same way, due to my stupidity and fear of that same society Claire was talking about. She must had really hard times in her youth.

"I see. Now, what is your interest on Rachel and Ivy?" he asked openly. "You have taken serious blows, in your reputation, and your business as well by backing her up publicly." The master Vamp locked his eyes on the witch with my form. She laughed, very amused. She was facing a master vamp, an undead vampire, a ruler of an important camarilla and the underground of all Cinci and she laughed! _Therefore, if she is a reaper, she doesn't feel fear as I don't feel it since I woke up from my coma; this only confirms my guesses about her._ "What do you want from them?" he insisted.

"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Cormel, I was wondering when I was going to have a visit from you." She said. "I know how the vampire society works and I know Ivy is a big asset for you. Tamwoods are maybe the most important vampire bloodline in Cincinnati. Since I'm getting into her life, you have to be sure of my intentions." She shrugged her shoulders casually. I'm a little surprised you brought the subject up at this particular moment, that's all." She smiled. "And I tend to laugh when someone surprises me." She sighed. "Well, what can I say? They are simply lovable. I was blown away the moment I met them. They are a unique couple." She put another patch on me. "But you are right I have an interest, especially in Rachel. However I haven't said it to her yet." She reckoned honestly.

She surely knew how to look honest. She knew to lie like a professional but I couldn't stop trusting her. I saw her eyes, totally green when she attacked the demon. She never showed any fear. She was like me, and like Tammy. She could kill demons. That's why she attacked one without hesitation. She could tell me more. She was trying to protect me, and my daughter, and she knew we have to hide from the vamps the fact we weren't normal witches anymore. She knew, she told me about the danger of absorbing too much demon magic. However, she had no marks. She lied about the marks on Tammy, and she said they would vanish with time. Maybe she knew how we could hide them; in addition, the ghost of the princess said we were related. We were family somehow.

"What do you want from her?" Rynn nodded, he seemed satisfied with her answer. _You can't know with undead vamps._ I remind myself, even though, since my awakening from the coma I had noticed this sort of empathy, I seemed to know what people were feeling around me.

"It's about what I want for her as much about what I want from her, Mr. Cormel." Claire smiled to him, speaking in riddle.

"I don't understand." Rynn encouraged her to elaborate.

"Well, let's be honest and direct." She caressed my head, and made me look at her face. "Here's the thing, kiddo. I want you to be my heiress." She stated so truly, I could buy it. It was something I never had expected.

"Pardon me?" the master Vampire blinked startled. I was startled as well. I made a quizzical noise toward her.

"Come on, kiddo." She leaned over me, and kissed me between the eyes, motherly. "Rena knows it. She has tried to give you all kind of clues, but you…" she shook her head condescending. "I have a lot of things to teach you. I passed most of my life pursuing magical knowledge and I had given up trying to find a worthy witch to pass on that knowledge. What have I done over the course of these last few months?" she asked a bit patronizing.

"You have been teaching her ley line spells, and charms, and earth magic too." Jenks said, landing on her shoulder.

"Why?" Rynn asked with a little frown, he was surprised, and he didn't like that. He didn't trust in anyone, not even inside his own camarilla. He certainly didn't trust in an old witch, he just saw was powerful enough to destroy the focus.

"Have you really _seen_ what she did tonight, Mr. Cormel?" she retorted. "Rachel has an enormous potential and she has the right morals. However, she lacks the knowledge. I couldn't free the focus by myself, even though I knew how. She was the one that made it possible. The four witches you picked up tonight, all together couldn't do something like that, turn it! Not even a dozen witches like them could manage it!" she said frankly, walking on a very rocky zone, she was accepting I was dangerous, and so did she!

"You are a powerful witch in your own right, Miss Britt." The master vamp pointed in a deceitful soft and flattering tone. He was fishing, using his undeniable charm.

"Oh yes, I am!" she gave him my best smug. "That's exactly the reason I haven't found a worthy heir until now. You see, Mr. Cormel when you spend a lot of time isolated from others, you find the true value of many things. Money is not important to me, I have a lot, and I don't need more. I am old, and if I want to pass my knowledge on, I have to start soon. Because the things I know are very difficult to learn and perform. Most require a quantity of power that only a handful of witches in the entire world could handle. At the same time, I cannot teach just anyone, due to the danger, an unscrupulous witch could hurt beyond repair too many people. I had to find someone with a conscience, someone with strong morals and respect for others. It was a shame a lifetime of sacrifices would just be lost; but I have never met anyone worthy of the trust to have my secrets , most like today aren't possible without a coven of powerful witches put together, and the best is maintain them secret, I just want the knowledge safely guarded for a future generation. I had given up, and then I met Rachel. She believes in justice, she has friends of many different races; she respects them, and loves them." She caressed my head again, giving me a look that only my mother could give. Odd, since she was using my face, that filled my heart of warmth, it was because not only I could feel the love and respect from the old witch, but also because she proved to me I was able of show that kind of feeling. After all, she was using my body and my face.

"Above all that, she has the potential to handle the kind of things I want to preserve. There is no school in the world that teaches the spells I propose to teach to her. I learned them from wise witches, and they are secrets passed only from one generation to the next in some cases. It is magic most consider lost forever and unfortunately, Rachel has a lot to learn. She doesn't have the degree of mastery of ley lines, which she is capable of; she lacks knowledge of the basics. Her education and knowledge is limited, so, she is missing important bits. I have to teach her all of that; she must learn the ways along with the complex spells I wish to pass onto her." Claire explained turning her glance between Cormel and me. "The spell we did tonight, for instance. It took me 7 years being the slave of an old priestess in a lost wood in China for her to let me see her most treasured scrolls. Spiritual magic is my specialty and I'm very good at ley line and earth magic too. I had to, like I said, being the student of isolated witches and mediums was what I did most of my life." She shrugged her shoulders. "Just a few more stitches and you're off the hook, kiddo". She said to me and took another curve needle. I shivered; I just wished she already left the pliers for good! She smiled to me, and kissed me again in the head "I will be quick, I know is hurtful." She promised.

"You dealt with demons; you know a lot of them." Ivy said cautiously. She could see the way she had burnt the demon. I still hadn't shared with her all of my findings about Claire, but I promised her we would talk together with the old reaper.

"Yes, I did. I even had demon marks when I was young. I always pursued knowledge Ivy. I didn't use demons for harming anyone but myself. I learned the hard way it's not healthy or wise to deal with them." She admitted. "But I learned a lot more about them with my numerous teachers. All of them dealt with demons too at some point in their lives. Every witch with a little curiosity and a little ambition tries summoning demons, Ivy, but most can't handle it. That's the difference between the wannabes and the great witches. I can tell Rachel knows demons, she dealt with them, but she managed to get rid of the demon marks. She can be a great witch, that's what I want for her. That was the last one needing stitches, kiddo." She cut the suture and I made the version of a relief sigh for a wolf. "Now you only need some antiseptic, and we can put bandages on, to keep the patches in place."

"So, you want to be her mentor." Rynn said.

"Yes, like I said, I don't wish to interfere in any other way on her life, Mr. Cormel. Whatever you want from her, I don't want to know. I know she is Ivy's Scion and therefore she is a member of your community, and your camarilla. I just want to teach her the things I spent most of my life learning and it is up to you, kiddo. I cannot force you into accepting my proposal but if you are like I know you are, you will say yes." She caressed me on the neck.

"If you are a powerful witch, why did you stop practicing, Claire?" Ivy asked.

"Because I'm not a fool. I had plenty of reasons, I didn't have a home, I almost died twice during my last research trip, I was getting old, and I realized I was getting nowhere. The things I had learned along the way I couldn't put them into practice, I was only gathering knowledge that everyone else considered lost, out of pride. If I was to practice them, then I would turn into a target for the covens, black witches and white witches would corner me, asking for them, and when they would realize they could not do it, I would automatically become a risk for all of them, and a target." She explained, as she again cleaned my stitched wounds and scratches all over me, with burning antiseptic, and I was doing my best not to give in and start twitching and crying.

"Why do you think all my mentors were outcasts? It is the very version of a reverse shunning, sweetie, they put themselves away from all of the magical community. When you have a conscience, you don't want to do damage to the innocents. When you are in my position, sweetie, you choose very carefully the one that will protect the knowledge. So, I left the witchcraft aside, and I started to build a normal life." She began to put clean dressing patches on all the scratches that required one. "Olga was very generous to me; she let me be a second mother to Rena and we made a home for her. That gave me even more reasons for leaving the witchcraft forgotten in the attic. I don't want that knowledge to be lost, but I cannot hand it over people I can't trust. It will be Rachel's decision whether to find an heir of her own or not, when her time comes." She said earnestly. "That was the last scratch, Rache. Now I will put you on your feet. Try not to use the broken one." She asked me, and she lifted my body, my legs were a bit shaky; I was exhausted and the pain still throbbing all over my furry body almost made me fall. However, Ivy was watching and she had Tammy to worry about now. I stifled my pain, and just stayed as still as I could.

"Well, it is a tempting proposition, even more tempting after we saw the both of you destroying the focus." Rynn pondered thoughtfully. "And what do you ask from her in return?" His stance was natural, he could surely look human, and I knew he wasn't convinced even if his face gave nothing away.

"Hard work, she has to commit to the lessons, Mr. Cormel. Before I can teach her the secrets, she has to be capable of managing them; she has to master ley line magic, and to improve her earth magic skills. That's why I was teaching her to cook as well; a good cook is always a good potion maker. She wasn't accepted in college into the ley line magic advanced classes, so I have to start with basics, and then move on from there." She said whilst Rena helped her to wrap me on new bandages. "And I must say I'm quite fond of her, Ivy, and Jenks by now. That's why I offered to help them today. Certainly I hadn't had so much excitement in over 30 years." She stroked my neck again. "That's all, kiddo. Now you can lie down, while I make a potion for you. The spiritual contamination you have will feel like a burning sensation, it will itch; you have to suck it up and not scratch yourself. Can you do it? Or do I have to cover your paws?" she asked me seriously.

"Cover them." Jenks and Ivy said at the same time, I huffed insulted, and growled towards them, showing my fangs. "Maybe you should put one of those cone things on her neck too, to stop her from biting herself as well, Claire." Jenks added with a chuckle.

"Don't be like that, she is hurting!" Renata backed me up.

"Exactly! You have never nursed over her, Rena. She is the biggest cry baby when she is hurting!" The pixie insisted amused. I stiffened my body and extended my neck up when I felt the anguish of Tammy drilling into my brain. I barked to Ivy.

"What is it, Rache?" she asked me. _This is the worst part of not having a voice._ "It hurts too much?" she asked me, I shook my head and I looked at her belly. Since she was feeling fine, she guessed in a heartbeat "Is it Tammy?", she stood up in a hurry, and I nodded. All the vampires turned towards the door, and Jenks flew over there in the blink of an eye.

"Tink's tities! It seems like Erica is coming in a hurry, and the baby is crying!" he said. Kimberly was opening the door, and another door opened far away and I could hear the cry of my baby too. Erica was there in just a second, she was using a robe too, and she was barefooted.

"What happened, Rica?" Kimberly asked her.

"Tammy just started to cry, mom. I tried to use pheromones to calm her, but it didn't work! I think she is in pain or something!" she was carrying Tammy carefully in her arms, and she was a bit scared.

"Let me see." The undead took my baby from her, with astonishing softness, almost tenderness, then she threw a ton of calming pheromones in the air, even my pains soothed a bit, and I relaxed a lot. Kimberly moved slowly, rocking Tammy in her arms, as she hummed a lullaby tune with a soft rhythm. She even gave me the impression of being human. She cared for Tammy, after all, she was her grandmother, maybe she couldn't love her, yet Tammy was a part of her line. However, my baby still was crying in a heartbreaking way. "Maybe she is sick." The undead approached Claire whom was finishing washing her arms and hands.

"She shouldn't be." the cook said. At that moment, the anguished crying stopped a bit. "What is wrong, little one? Do you have a wet diaper?" she asked leaning over the undead vamp arm supporting Tammy.

"No, I checked on it, it's dry." Erica affirmed.

Ivy was at her side too worried. The little marked hands closed on her hand, and the hand of Claire in a possessive gesture, when they both tried to touch her. Her crying was stopping, being replaced by little adorable hiccups.

"What's wrong with my baby, Claire?" my concerned lover asked. Tammy let out a little broken sigh, settling down.

"Aha. That can be a bit of a problem the first weeks, sweetie." Claire smiled with an understanding expression upon my face.

"What is it?" Kimberly frowned a bit.

"She has a twin sister, Ms. Tamwood. She is used to having very little space, and she shared her space for nine months with her little sister. She felt abandoned when she realized she wasn't hearing the heartbeat of her little sister and Ivy's too. She knows the voices of Rachel and Ivy, that's why she started calming down when she realized her moms were close to her. Look, she doesn't want to let go." She pulled a bit her index, and my baby didn't loosen her grip on it. "The strange thing is the pheromones didn't have any effect." She stated nibbling her lower lip, pensive. "Even I felt better, you have very effective pheromones."

"I know. It is the first time that my pheromones haven't worked as I intended them to" she said a bit bewildered. She carefully passed the little body, in a very warm romper suit to Ivy's arm, and Tammy sighed again, she snuggled her little face against her breast, like scenting her. Still, she didn't let go Claire's finger.

"Is that so, Tammy?" Ivy caressed with her thumb the tiny colored hand grabbing her pinky. "Of course you are not alone, aunt Rica was with you, darling." She said quietly, the blue eyes were glancing alternatively between her and Claire.

"That is another thing, she sees very clearly, for most babies it takes a few days to be so aware." Claire smiled at her and the baby let go her finger. "Ah, so you have noticed now, little one." She crossed her arms on her middle and cocked a bit her hips, in a way I frequently did. "You know I'm not Rachel, eh?"

"How can she know? Even we thought you were Rachel, you copied her scent very well." Rynn Cormel said seriously.

"Let's do a little experiment, go close to Rachel, Ivy." The old cook asked. "After all, she hasn't seen Tammy clean yet."

Ivy came closer to the counter, where I was lying on my belly now. I should have looked like a mummified wolf; I had bandages over my middle, my hips, my back leg, and half of my head. I made an acute quizzical noise, passing air through my nose and throat. The stunningly smart blue eyes locked on mine. _Oh, my God, she is really precious!_ My heart clenched and my eyes watered a bit. Now I could see the real beauty my baby witch was. Her hair was really a mane, like mine, curly and unruly, but pure ebony silkiness at the same time. The beautiful features of my vamp lover were baby size on my Tammy, the lips full and intensely pink, almost red. Her arm extended towards me. My heart clenched. Maybe she was only curious, but that meant the world to me. I blinked to clear my vision from the tears. Then I extended my consciousness, trying to contact her. _Hello, my little witch, are you feeling alright?_

The delicate arm waved, and she made a demanding baby noise. Ivy came a bit closer and the little hand grabbed my sane ear. I could feel my baby reaching for me as well. With her clear and loving recognition, I felt her love, and I heard her little giggles. _I love you too, Tammy but it's time for you to sleep, my little one._ She yawned. _That's it, you are tired, honey. Mom is going to be with you, go to sleep, have a rest, my love. _I cajoled my baby. Of course, the pain was worth it. One glimpse from those innocent joyful eyes was worth much more!

"This is fascinating. How?" Rynn was only a step away, staring attentively at my baby and her reactions.

"The connection Rachel has with the babies is still strong between her and Tammy, surely Tammy tried to reach me, and when she couldn't, she knew I wasn't Rachel. It is really fascinating." Claire explained.

"And it is confidential, Miss Britt." Rynn said in a warning, but with a smooth polite tone.

"I know. I don't know how the other vamp camarillas would react to news like this. A vamp giving birth to a witch, certainly it would be a first. I have no idea how Rachel managed to do it. It is undeniable Ivy is her mother, because Tammy just looks like her, her eye's shape, her mouth, her nose, the color of the hair, but at the same time, Tammy has the eye's color of Rachel's biological father, and the texture of her hair, its Rachel's. That is yet another hint of the latent magical talent she has. Of course, I never would endanger any of them, much less innocent babies. I'm pretty sure the other baby is a vamp and I would be happy to be the one attending her birth too. I'm a very competent doctor and I can attend them in their own house, on holly ground, where demons cannot enter." The cook offered. "This is a very unusual and maybe critical matter for all vamp kind, and being you the master of the Tamwoods, it is your privilege to decide the way you want to treat it, Mr. Cormel." The old witch was as polite as him, but much more caring.

"After what happened at the hospital today, it is a very tempting alternative, Rynn." Kimberly said. "Claire is almost perfect, being a witch surely she gave Ivy some potions to help her recover faster. A fast recovery is a critical point and you know I don't like magic." She reckoned seriously.

"Having a commitment with Rachel, as her student and the benefits her skills can provide, certainly is tempting. What do you say, Ivy? You are the one delivering the new Tamwood heir." Rynn turned to my lover. Ivy smiled.

"Thank you, Claire." She nodded. "I'm honored."

"The honor is mine, sweetie. This time, I will come like myself and Rachel will be with you the entire time." She smiled back. I nodded. "Now, I have to make the potion to clean Rachel and David. It will help them to get rid of the spiritual contamination. When she is clean enough, the pain amulets, and the potions to accelerate her healing will work." She went to a cabinet and pulled out a pair of spell pots, big ones.

Tammy was asleep after only a few minutes; my poor baby witch was exhausted. I made a whiny sound. Ivy came closer.

"What is it, Rachel?" she asked me. I locked my eyes on hers, if it worked with Tammy, maybe it could work with her as well. I sent my consciousness reaching for hers. She opened her mind to me as soon as she felt me. _"Can you hear me, love?" _She smiled and nodded, I made the wolf version of a sigh of relief. _"Mom is not going to forgive me if I don't call her, Ivy. Tammy is her granddaughter too. Little problem though, I can't talk!"_ my anguish filtered on my feelings. "Oh, that's right, dear. I will call her, don't worry." She passed a finger over my good ear.

"What is going on now, Ivy?" Kimberly arched her eyebrow while she demanded.

"Rachel is my Scion, mom. I can communicate with her mentally. She is concerned, someone has to call Alice and let her know Tammy has already been born. Since she can't talk herself." Ivy answered her.

"And you can do it while she is a wolf?" Rynn blinked twice, startled again.

"Yes. Excuse me one moment, please, Rynn." She focused again on me. _"I adore you, Ivy Tamwood. You better go and rest a bit; Tammy will need to feed again in no time. I'm sorry I cannot be with you both, babe. But I'm a filthy animal, and our baby has just been born. I don't want her sick because of me. You better wash your hands before touch her again, and disinfect hers too, she touched me." _Ivy frowned a bit "You are being an idiot, Rachel." she said.

"What did she say?" Erica wondered.

"She is asking me to wash my hands before touching Tammy, and to wash her hands too." Ivy answered still angry at me.

"She's right. She has fur, no matter how much they have washed her. There is no way of getting rid of all the dirt, and bacteria on it, Ivy." Kimberly said, maybe a little surprised with the fact the suggestion came from me.

"Regrettably, they are both right, Ivy." Claire backed us up. "I know it is unfair depriving Tammy of physical contact with Rachel, since she wants her close too. She will suffer too. But it only will be for one week or so." She cajoled my lover.

"_Ivy, I passed most of my childhood in hospitals, I don't want that for our daughter. Please, love! I will be fine and the worst has passed. I am alive, and I will be with you as myself pretty soon. You have to focus on Tammy. She depends on us, and I can't do anything for her right now, love. I will miss you, Ivy. But you must be tired too; you gave me so much of your own strength back there! You can see I'm fine, please, Ivy, go and sleep a while. You don't have to watch over me all the time. I will see you tomorrow, and be sure to eat something, you didn't eat anything because of the med tests, and we haven't had any dinner either." _I tried to convince her, but Ivy was too overprotective of me, I didn't want to fight with her. She seemed a bit embarrassed when I made her remember my unfortunate and sick childhood, but she could understand better what I was saying. Ivy could feel my own disappointment for not being able of holding our tiny witch. In addition, I sent her all my concern for her own health; she had to take care of herself, because Tammy needed her.

"What now?" Kimberly asked when her eldest daughter sighed heavily.

"She insists on me going to have some dinner and trying to get some sleep before Tammy needs to feed again." She said resigned.

"Well, I'm surprised, she is right again, Ivy. If you are breast-feeding a baby, you have to eat, and rest. You still have four months of pregnancy, so you are nourishing two babies, not just one." The undead woman took a good look at me. I nodded giving her the reason. "I'm beginning to understand what you see in her, Ivy. At least she sees the big picture, and she knows what is more urgent and important and right now the baby is." She said. I barked shortly with yet another firm affirmative wave of my head.

"Oh my...I totally forgot! Dinner is ready, when you want. "Renata blushed heavily, she wasn't being the perfect hostess! "Please, come with me, I will guide you to the dining room." She offered in a very educated way.

The vamps went out, and I took the potion before I fell asleep, I was exhausted, but the pain kept waking me up every half hour or so. I just couldn't find a comfortable position for sleeping and I had a lot of things to think about. Claire's proposition had to be a cover, she was a reaper but why didn't she do more? What did she know that I didn't? Tammy had, had a rough time since birth; would that have any consequences for her? – She was a newborn but she was already a reaper and capable of performing spells how would she cope as she grew up?


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Family time, the grandparents have to know the baby. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Hi, guys. Just in time, I hope. I'm updating every other Friday or Saturday sorry for the inconveniences.

I want to thank Natasha, even when she thinks she is not doing a great job correcting this chapters, she is. I know they are clearer and lot less confusing thanks to her advices and insights, and they have a better grammar than before her corrections. Thank you, sunshine. I know you are sacrificing your little time to sleep in order to help me.

CHAPTER 17

Resisting the urge to scratch my sides and back was taking much of my will power, but I wasn't giving Jenks the satisfaction of rubbing it in my face for the rest of his life. Or giving Ivy a motive to think I wasn't growing up in every way. Now I had a baby, and another one was on her way, I had to set an example for them, being a responsible mom. _Yes, I'm a mom!_ I sighed pleased and sated. Ivy had made a very good point, Tammy was a witch like me and I had to teach her how to be a witch. Ivy was continuously checking on me, even from a distance, using our bond. She really missed me and I missed her. Despite my fur and the lit chimney, I felt cold, because she wasn't beside me. I missed the warmth of her body, her scent, her breathing, and the silkiness of her skin against mine.

"Me too, dear!" her hand stroked my neck making me open my eyes. I had been so lost in my thoughts of her and our babies I didn't hear or smell her coming. She scratched my side and I melted with a doggy whimper. "I can't believe you really didn't scratch yourself even once." Ivy smiled at me. "How do you feel?"

"_Not so good, but that feels sooo..." _I trailed off even in my thoughts, when her nails continued softly relieving the unpleasant sensation on my skin. I was just whimpering weakly, such a release from the simplest act; I could just lick Ivy from head to toe for this.

"I knew you were a pervert, but this is too much even for you, Ivy." The mockery in Jenks voice stopped the scratching. I growled at him. "I'm kidding. I just cannot believe it myself you didn't scratch, not even in your sleep, Rache. It's the first time I've lost a bet about you with Ivy." He landed on my vamp's shoulder. "How is she?"

"Not good. Oh, Rache, I'm so sorry! I should have listened to you and accepted the trip to the hospital." She sighed. I rested my head on her hand.

"_Don't start, Ivy Tamwood. How is Tammy?" _I asked her a bit anxious and excited in my head_._

"She is exhausted, but very possessive. She slept almost all night holding onto me." She smiled. Erica came in this little kind of studio with Tammy cradled in her arms. "She has drunk a lot of tea, normal tea, not potions, and she has already wet two diapers. That means the dehydration is receding and she smells very strongly of redwood. How is your arm?"

I moved it a bit, still hurt like hell, but Tammy saw me, and she waved her arms getting excited. _"Hi, Tammy, are you feeling better, my little one?" _I reached for her with my mind, and I could hear her physical giggle as a mental one_. "Are you feeling better, baby? Sorry, love, you can't touch me, I'm dirty. You could get sick, and you are still weak from the change._" I explained to her, as she protested. Ivy kissed her, without letting her hands touch her. Tammy's little marked hands tangled in Ivy's ebony locks almost fiercely.

"See? She always does that. Honey! I will hold you as soon as I wash my hands." Ivy promised. "Aunty Rica is holding you for a little while she wants to be with you too." Ivy tried to reason with our tiny witch.

"Yes, I do Tammy, please don't cry. I can be fun too." Erica begged the little witch.

"I called Alice, before I went to sleep, Rache. She said she will be coming, and she will phone to let us know which flight she will be arriving on. She is a bit worried about you. I had to tell her you were injured, dear." Ivy told me when Erica helped her to free from Tammy's hands and I sighed, _I have never liked when mom worries about me. _The thought of mom holding my baby witch, and her satisfaction for doing it, rose a bit of guilt from the back of my mind, thinking of the possessive tone, and the worry Kimberly Tamwood showed us last night.

"_You better go and let your mom be around Tammy for a while, Ivy. She is her granddaughter. Maybe she is not a vamp, but your mom cares for her, because she came from you. Plus, she has to be certain you are doing well. Yesterday was rough for everybody."_ I said to her mind, and I saw tension building up instantly in her body. _"Ivy, I have seen the very depths of your soul, as you have seen inside mine, and I know that you are mad at your mother, but you still love her. You are the only hope for her, Ivy. Give her the chance she deserves. Maybe she has no soul anymore, but she still has strong morals, you took yours from her, I know." _I was pushing her, and I knew it.

"Why do you have to be so…?" Ivy sighed.

"_You love me despite the fact I can be a bitch." _I ended up whimpering again, when she scratched me all over softly, with both her hands. It was a pleasure now, but it would turned into a punishment the moment I was left here with no relief for my itching, it would be so much more difficult to ignore the tingling and the burning sensation after having her nails scratching in just the right places.

"Yes, I love you, and that's why you always get whatever you want from me. Say goodbye to Tammy, once we get to the basement we will be stuck down there while the sun is up. You will compensate me for this, as soon you are you again Rachel" she warned me, dragging a little her silk grey voice. That didn't sound like punishment, but like a sex marathon in the planning. _Whoa! I can't wait for that, love! Tammy, sweetie, you're going to spend a bit of time with your grandpas." _I reached for the tiny witch and she focused on me. I admired her curls; they were a bit wild. Her hair was going to be as unruly as mine, my poor baby. It took me some minutes to convince my tiny, but strong willed baby to go and enjoy the love of her grandpa, and the attentions of her grandma.

During the day, I had to drink several potions, but the painkillers were kicking in at last. A delivery service dropped off a package for Claire, from a vet pharmacy with the right kind of medicine for my actual form, and she gave it to me shortly after Ivy went to her parents. I had many questions to her. I knew now she was a reaper, I was almost sure of it. I wanted to ask her why she didn't help me more the day before. What were the things she wanted to warn me about? How could I hide the marks, on Tammy's skin and mine? Would Tammy suffer any consequences due to the change? Why had Tammy started to drain the demon at the same time the fire was hurting her? But I didn't have a voice. Moreover, I had promised Ivy we would talk to the old cook together, as a couple. Anyway, I was grateful to Claire, she helped us a lot. I wouldn't have survived the focus without her help.

It was snowing lightly; I could see it through the window. I was in a little studio. It was a private room with a pair of comfortable wing chairs on dark brown leather. Some bookshelves full of old books, some lamp tables, and little carpets, a private, cozy room. I was lying on one of the carpets, a fluffy fur dark brown bear carpet, without the head thank God. The door opened after Claire left with the empty bowls of potions, and food. My pack entered, they seemed rested. Cali came to hug me carefully, the girls were wearing jeans and warm sweaters; David had his clean cowboy outfit, with a warm wool shirt in red and black squares. He fed the chimney with some more firewood, and then he went to seat on one of the wing chairs. Serena sat at the other side of me, over the bear carpet.

"How are you, Rachel?" she asked me worried. I yipped shrugging my good shoulder.

"You were really brave yesterday, Rache. I was frozen just seeing all those wolves around both of you!" Cali said quietly, near my good ear. Her arms slightly squeezed on my ribcage, not enough to hurt, only to show me she cared.

"Claire told us you're in pain." Serena stroked my neck. "I must say I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of the truth behind the challenge." She looked into my eyes. "I really had no idea, Rachel. I was planning on challenging you myself." She said blushing and I smiled at her, I leaned my head on her hand. She smiled too, she knew I was not mad at her, the were senses had proved to be handy in the past, she could smell I wasn't mad, and could feel I just wanted to protect her. David chuckled quietly, we all three saw at him.

"Rachel knows already, Serena. No need for apologies, we are a pack."

"She knew?" Cali asked blushing too.

"She's not blind, she told me it was her fault, she wants to expend more time with us, as pack; now she is aware of her responsibilities as alpha bitch. She wasn't about to let you risk yourself with those cheaters, Serena. She knew the truth and the dangers, it was the first thing she said to me, she couldn't let you go and be murdered only for the ambition of Finley, and other alpha males." He said with a little smile. Cali squeezed me again, lightly, warmly, and she kissed my ear. Serena looked into my eyes, with a silent question. I nodded. She smiled to me. Her arm passed behind my neck in a hug.

"Thanks, Rache. Anyway, I wouldn't be stupid enough to challenge you after seeing you fight like a wolf. You are an impressive little wolf." Serena chuckled. "I'm sorry. I won't be so dumb again. I will ask when I don't understand something." She promised.

"That's ok. I should be more open to you as well; it was partly my fault, and I apologize too, especially to you Serena, and to you, Cali." David said seriously. "Now we can begin again, as a pack. All together, we can make it right this time." We nodded at him; and smiled to each other. "Now that the focus has been destroyed, there will be no more attempts like that, but we don't know if there will be retaliation from some packs towards us." He let us know worried, quietly. "For now, Rachel is in bad shape, and Ivy has her hands full with Tammy. I think we should stay in the church with them, just in case they need help, at least a few days, until we know for sure there aren't going to be any reprisals from the other weres for the focus." He said.

"But of course!" Serena agreed and Cali again squeezed me a bit, showing her approval to our alpha male's proposal. The door opened and Claire came with Renata, she had some pills and a bowl of water in the hands.

"Hi, kids." The old cook smiled at us. "Alice just called, she said she arrives tonight, with Cynthia, on flight 234, it'll be landing here around 10:30."

"Ah, I can go to the airport and pick them up." Serena offered.

"Yes, Cali and I will go gather some clothes and personal effects." David decided. "We'll meet you in the church."Oh! We came in my car." He remembered the girls had no cars with them.

"No problem at all, I can drive you to the airport, and collect them, then drop you all off at the Church." Renata offered.

"Well, Cali can go to your place to gather your things, Serena. Then we all meet at the church." David nodded.

Ivy came with Robert to talk to Claire, she wanted to be on holy ground before sunset; just in the case another demon was summoned. Her parents agreed on that point. Rynn had left last night to begin the arrangements with the weres, but until all that negotiation had finished we couldn't be sure there wasn't another attack on the planning against us. Claire offered her sun-proof limo to him, to go with his wife home, or talking to Rynn, whatever they wanted. David carried me downstairs to the basement, to talk with Kimberly.

My baby witch was lying on a tidy big bed, with Kim on one side and Erica on the other and playing with their fingers when we arrived. They both were totally dressed, Ivy's mother in her leather outfit, she was hot, and at the same time she was smiling proudly at the awareness and quickness of my baby to catch her fingers. Tammy giggled when she poked lightly her tiny ribcage with two fingers, my baby was having a good time; I couldn't avoid feeling a certain jealousy, because I couldn't touch her.

Robert said to her in few words what they talked upstairs.

"That's a good idea. I want to know what progress Rynn has made so far." The undead beauty nodded pleased. "I'll see you soon, little one!" she lifted Tammy and kissed her forehead. Tammy grabbed her hair until she received a second kiss. "Rica, do you want to go with your sister?" she asked leaving my baby in Ivy's arms. Tammy nuzzled Ivy's chest, with a big pleased sigh.

"Yes, mom." She was already on her feet too.

"Good. Then we'll see you soon, sweetheart." Robert kissed her on the head. There was an underground passage to a little garage with two sun proof limos. The uniformed driver arrived; it was a man, in his 40's, in uniform, and with a pleasant face and some pounds over weight. He opened the door for Kimberly and Robert. We watched them go, and then went to the outside garage. Renata picked a silver Mercedes, and Claire picked a black hummer, Very much like the one Rynn possessed and David put me on the seat. He and Cali headed for his car.

Erica came with us on the ride home. Jenks and Jhan were on Ivy's shoulders, watching over Tammy. Rez curled her body against my less injured side. She and Jhan had clicked, and she wanted to know his brothers and sisters, and of course to know Bis. Shar had granted her permission, since the old cook promised to watch over her, and being that our house was a house of tolerance to different races, there was no danger her little offspring would be harmed in any way. Claire drove in a speedy way, not as scary as a vamp could be, but it was a pleasant ride. We arrived at the church when the sun was about to set for the night, and it was early. Renata was already there, with Serena. It was Serena whom carried me inside the church, even when Ivy protested, saying it had to be her.

"Come on, Ivy. You are the mate of my alpha bitch, you just had a baby and you are carrying the baby!" she laughed in good mood. Erica held the door open for all of us. Matalina came, flying to the front, and Jenks caught her in flight with a passionate kiss.

"We're home, woman! And the kid is ok!" he claimed letting her go to check on Jhan. The entire family of pixies came too, dripping pixie golden dust in their excitement. Renata smiled, as Claire, whom was carrying Rez on her arm. The little gargoyle stared at the almost 50 pixies flying all over the place. Matalina came to pose on Ivy's shoulder.

"Oh, by the gardens of heaven! You have a little baby witch, Ivy!" Matalina said excited.

"Yes, Mattie, it was part the reason we couldn't make it yesterday. Jenks called you to explain, yes?" Ivy asked.

"Of course! She is so big and so beautiful!" she looked at our baby witch who was mesmerized by the flying pixies approaching us. Josephine hovered over her.

"She is gigantic!" she said "Hello, Tammy!" she waved her arm. My baby struggled until she could liberate her arms from the blanket and waved them up. Josephine went up a bit, out of her reach.

"Hey, guys, this is Rez!" Jhan was near the floor, where Claire put the little gargoyle. I sighed and felt home! The place wouldn't be the same without the high pitched jolly screams of the pixie hoard! Rez was excited, getting to know all the pixies and Bis came from the back to join in. Jhan introduced her proudly to our resident gargoyle. Very soon Matalina and Jenks had managed to gather all their kids up, after all of them had a good look of Tammy, and some of my injures. Rex ran under my desk the moment she saw me as wolf. Erica carried one of the exercise mattresses from the sanctuary to the kitchen, and Serena put me on it once Erica laid a quilt over it. The excitement and noise became muffled, as we were able to go further into the church. Claire insisted in making dinner for all of us, and she started to work, with the assistance of Serena, Erica and Renata. It was early for them to go fetch my mom. It was barely a quarter after seven at night.

Matalina came with Jenks; she was relieved to see well her husband and son. She wanted to see more closely to our baby, and know everything. The kids were joking and making friends with Rez and Bis in the sanctuary. David and Cali arrived with some luggage, and he stated they were staying until we were certain there was no danger. Ivy agreed with him, as did I, although we didn't have much space. However, the girls weren't picky, and they said they could share with mom and Cynthia. David said he was taking the couch in the living room, and since I had to stay in a mattress outside the bedrooms, Erica could sleep with Ivy for today. I couldn't talk to anyone except my vamp, and my babies. The day before I had kissed Ivy in here, and I promised her I would be back, and I was, maybe a bit battered, but I managed to keep my promise!

Soon Renata and Serena went to the airport to collect my mother and sister in law. I had to take another potion, and Ivy showed Tammy her bedroom with Erica. Seeing my little witch in the arms of her mom, and my pack mates including David – Cali just put my daughter in his arms and he melted against his will. Seeing her with Rena, Erica and Claire was mesmerizing, Tammy acted a bit different with everyone, her baby noises weren't the same, nor her expressions. Ivy went to our bedroom to breastfeed her.

Mom and Cynthia arrived in a hurry, going directly to the bedroom, where Ivy was breastfeeding our little one. I could hear their exclamations as they admired the beautiful little witch. They were bespelled by her and I couldn't blame them. I had spent the last couple of hours just contemplating her. Mom changed her diaper, before she even noticed I wasn't there. Suddenly, she just left the bedroom, her face set in an angry grimace and her body filled with tension. Cynthia and Ivy followed her in a hurry; my lover brought our baby with her. Mom was beautiful! She looked so much younger and so much more alive! I hardly remembered her like this. I was a sick child, and she always suffered because of me. Guilt hit me. Mom was wearing slacks, and a blouse, with a light sweater over it. Her hair! She had it cut! Her hair was only shoulder length now. The big eyes of Cynthia were worried. She had a thick angora sweater over jeans, and boots.

"Rachel?" Mom called me, looking around but she didn't glance down at the floor. It was Cynthia who stared at me really astonished. I gave a short bark and Mom blinked, she was just speechless and she came to kneel besides me. I still looked like a half-mummified wolf. Mom touched me hesitantly, and I didn't complain even when her hands became slightly hard in her quest to identify all my injuries.

"Are you a wolf?" Mom asked me after several moments. I nodded, with a little apologetic whistling noise through my throat and nose.

"Yes, Alice. You see, she is my alpha bitch. A female were challenged her for her position as alpha bitch in our pack…" David trailed off when he saw the unspoken accusation plastered upon the face of my mother. I barked at her once, shortly.

"It wasn't David's fault, Alice. That's what she is trying to explain. Your daughter is not a weak wolf, she won the challenge, and she didn't get a single scratch from it." Claire said; moving to what was normally my chair at the table; the old cook sat down and started to explain everything that had happened. Ivy sat down in her normal seat, focusing on the baby as Claire spoke. It wasn't long before mom and Cynthia had to sit down as well, listening attentively to her. Of course, Cynthia was excited about the whole thing, as well as horrified.

Both, Mom and Cynthia hugged Ivy when they saw the recordings Jhan had made of the events from the night before. The most important thing however, Ivy had given birth to Tammy, and my daughter had become a baby reaper, well a baby demon hunter according to Cynthia's family chronicles. They saw her marks. That was the very reason mom had become so angry and stalked out of the bedroom in search of me in the first place. She didn't like a marked baby any more than Kimberly Tamwood did.

"We will stay a few days, at least while Rachel recovers from her wounds. With a newborn baby, the last thing you should be worried about is cooking and cleaning, darling. I will cook." Mom said in her most determined tone to Ivy.

"In fact, it is so close to solstice, we might stay until then. We had planned to come visit you on that day anyway." Cynthia smiled at me. "Really, Rache, I don't want your life, but it is definitely not boring."

"You can bet on that!" Jenks said to her in good mood.

"And Tammy is amazing, Sweetheart. A witch, just like you said she would be." Mom sighed sated. "Donald is going to freak the minute he knows she has blue eyes like him." She caressed the little raven-haired head of her granddaughter tenderly. "Tammy is a beauty."

"And Robbie is going to be just astonished. He still doesn't believe you are somehow the other mother of Ivy's babies. He can be narrow-minded about some subjects, even though he is a witch too, but the kind of magic you can do, its just too much, Rache. He still cannot believe that sometimes an exceptional witch just randomly emerges. We wouldn't have legends if special ones weren't born once in a while. You are one of those gifted witches. Maybe it is because you were so sick when you were little, and he only wants to protect you as he did then. He will accept that you are grown up and he can't protect you sooner or later. Don't worry about him. No matter what he says, it is only because he is not very good with words, he loves you very much." My sister in law spoke to me quietly, sitting by my side, where Cali was.

Cynthia was a little worried, but she was sincere. I knew very well the way Robbie could react, and I knew it was a bit of jealousy, sibling jealousy, because I was the rare one. But he loved me; that was truth as well and I loved him. Even if we couldn't maintain a civilized conversation for more than a few minutes most of the time.

"Well, it is a family thing." Ivy said. "That's what Rachel is thinking, Cynthia, she always says she is better at taking action. Don't worry she loves Robbie dearly too." She clarified. Erica came from the living room to say hello. She kissed mom and Cynthia. She had taken a little nap on the couch, trying to watch some teen show on the TV.

"And this spiritual contamination is the very reason magic cannot work on her?" Mom asked Claire. The cook explained it to everybody. David was also contaminated, but not to the same degree that I was. I had jumped into the middle of the focus to make the spell work better, and I was very injured, so I was full of it. She commented a lot upon the courage of my alpha male, and his heroic fight to help me. David was all flushed, he was shy. Mom kissed him on the cheeks, her earlier angry reaction forgotten.

The cell phone in Erica's pocket rang and she answered it at once, going to the living room again for a little privacy. Ivy went pale and Jenks swore in Tink's name, gaining himself a little telling off from Matalina. My vamp switched the laptop on, holding Tammy in one of her arms, and using the free hand to manipulate the touch pad.

"What's going on, Ivy?" David asked in a worried tone.

"This can't be!" she said in a gloomy fashion. She left the laptop on and grabbed the phone off the table and quickly dialling a number from memory. "Mom, have you seen what's on the net? Erica has just received a phone call from one of her friends, because she saw Erica on the net fighting with street weres. Yes, I can wait a second." She avoided a sigh and she gazed at me. Jenks was staring at the laptop screen. "Aha, yes, mom, I'm watching it right now and it is from a very different angle to those Jhan recorded. It seems too far, and maybe it was just one camera. Does Rynn know already? Ok, mom. Yes. We don't plan on going out for anything. Yes. We'll be here. No, I didn't let Rica get out either. Yes, I know, now she is in danger too. I'm sorry, mom." She was honestly concerned for her little sister. "Yes, I will talk to her, and I'll make her understand the situation for her has changed. I didn't want this for Rica, mom. I'm very sorry." She said quietly, she was in pain.

It didn't take a genius to understand her sorrow. Erica wasn't considered a danger before. Ivy was, she was trained and the proof was the attack on her mother household, Erica was about to die, she couldn't fight even one attacker and Ivy killed an undead and a living vamp. It was almost impossible for a living vamp to kill an undead without a lot of creativity, speed and even help. However, Ivy used her Nightwing motorcycle to crash him against a wall, and then she cut his head off, before he could even react. Erica was not a threat for vampires then, even living ones. Now though, she was on the net, fighting with a bunch of hostile, armed weres. Ivy was on the video too and it showed that even pregnant, she was a lot more dangerous than her little sis was. The punches she connected on the weres and the effects she got, they were hints for anyone with eyes. Ivy was too strong, stronger than most living vamps. But Erica now had practice with the sword, and she wasn't afraid of using it to defend herself.

Some of us sat at the chairs around the table, others standing up behind the chairs in our kitchen and huddled around Ivy's laptop, we watched the entire thing. David lifting me up carefully, so I could see. The video was actually divided in to several parts. The first part started with the video of me fighting the demon Susannah had hired before, and everyone had forgotten until now. The second part showed the weres admitting to hiring black witches to summon demons against me. The only positive thing was that they had no means of knowing that the witch wearing my image was really Claire. The spy didn't show me at any time wereing, or the challenge. The video maker wanted everybody seeing it think Claire was I. The video didn't show the destruction of the focus either. Only the demons, and their ends. There was not a single shot in which Claire and I as witch were portrayed together!

However, the same questions about my shunning were being raised on the net. Why I was shunned when other witches sent demons against me, and I had to defend myself? The most surprising thing was in the middle of the video. It cut to somewhere in the woods, there was a witch hiding in the trees' protection casting a circle, and he was summoning and giving instructions to the demon in the business suit.

Next, it showed the robe-wearing demon being summoned in the road, just ahead of the curve beyond the warehouse, by a woman. Finally, it showed the third one being summoned in the woods, near a creek. This male witch summoned the leather-clothed demon. The spy had very clear images of the witches and they were familiar faces, at least one of the men and the woman. Both were members of the Coven of moral and ethical standards. The video went on to show them at public hearings, and their daily lives. The other witch was shunned and came from Minnesota. The questions flashed up on the screen were very direct. Why had they shunned me if they were the ones sending demons to kill me? If they dealt with demons, they didn't have the moral quality to cast judgment on other witches, did they? If two prominent members of the coven of moral and ethical standards were leading double lives, summoning demons for profit, and condemning all the others for doing the same. Wasn't that just a hint of the corruption of the Coven of moral and ethical standards? How could the other members not be aware of those two, or it was just that all the members were the same?

"Look for other entries with that sender, Ivy." Jenks asked.

"I'll do it." Renata offered. She was good with computers and Tammy was getting uncomfortable. Ivy left the search to her, to stand beside David. Soon a familiar face appeared on the screen. The prison guard that was so rude and obnoxious to me when we went to see Skimmer last year. The stupid ass was bragging in a bar about the extended permission they had to use black magic and he was menacing a girl and a guy. Obviously, he wanted something with the girl, and she was with someone else. In total, there were three different videos, of three employees of the system, including some witches from the IS. They were not on their best behavior, and all of them were flaunting the fact they had permission to use black arts. That permission came from the same Coven of moral and ethical standards that shunned me.

Of course, there was another entry with my actions regarding demons; I used a demon to testify against a witch killer. As well as some interviews of witnesses from outside the charm shop where I had captured Al when he tried to kill me after a witch from the I.S set him free. They made it look like someone was attacking me and I was simply the luckiest witch in the world for surviving the repeated attacks. I was, but this was very disturbing. The focus killed two demons when I was unconscious (It was Claire whom was knocked out). In this one, they used again the images of the night before.

"Tink's stupid fan clubs!" Jenks shouted. "Look at that one, Rena, please." He pointed at the screen. "Whoa!" he flew to David. "You have a fan club, my man!" he said. "So much for your peace of mind, now you will have a lot of requests to join your pack and maybe some nice girls will harass you." He said flattering to the embarrassed alpha.

"He's not the only one. There are several groups and growing. Your little sister is the hottest young vamp in the city starting today, Ivy. She has a fan club too." Renata told us, and Erica ran at vamp speed from the living room excited to see over her shoulders.

"Oh my God! It's true! I have a fan club!" She started hopping on her feet, like the teen she still was. This was thrilling for her. Ivy was gloomier every second. She was the one that had to put her little sister's teen feet on the ground again. I growled at Erica. "What is it Rachel?" she asked me.

"Oh honey!" my mom shook her head. "This is the worst thing that could happen to you." She informed her. "Maybe is exciting, but this will make you a target, sweetie. If they didn't think you were dangerous before. They will now and if someone wants to hurt you, or your family, that someone is now going to use mortal force to attack you. There will be no sleepy charms, but lethal ones, or weapons in the hands of professional killers. Honey, you will not have another moment of peace in your life." She sighed sadly. "And you are just a kid!" Mom nibbled her lower lip. Erica blinked astonished.

"I'm so sorry, Rica, this is a lifestyle I didn't want for you. If you hadn't been there with me, you would still be safe." Ivy stroked her shoulder. The young vamp was about to rant complaints but Ivy didn't let her. "No, Rica. We are not overreacting. Rachel has tried to tell you. Probably now you think it will be so easy to find some willing blood donors for you. But being admired and wanted by some, also means others will be afraid of you, and others, many others, will envy you and hate you for the very same reasons the first ones are admiring you." She said sternly. "It is a chain, a spiral that only grows and grows. Do you think Rachel enjoys the challenges? She hates them, Rica. She has a reputation. Each time she has to be more violent and stronger, just to uphold that reputation. It is the same as a witch; the attacks against her are more vicious and lethal each time. She always ends up in the hospital. Take a good look at her right now, the fact she isn't complaining doesn't mean she is not in pain. She is, but now that we have Tammy, she wants me focused on our baby, and she is stifling her own needs, to favor Tammy's. I know I can enter her mind. I have to respect her, because she has grown, and she is putting the needs of our baby over hers, as all parents must do."

She stopped a second and she swallowed the knot in her throat, she found the commitment I had towards our relationship sweet, and towards our baby, very sweet. She felt for me though, she was respecting me, but I was unable to hide all my pains from her, she knew me too well. "Now you are a target, and those against our camarilla will not think twice about sending well trained killers against you, as well as me. I have to always be alert, Rica. They know I'm dangerous. I have killed undead vamps and many are offended by my choices in life. Now I have a baby, and I am still pregnant with another. I feel so vulnerable, and I don't like it. However, still I'm stronger than you are. You have to understand; now more than ever before, you cannot be reckless with your safety. You cannot go outside unprotected, even if your friends want to see you. Even if they promise you it will be safe, they don't know, Rica. You will be putting them in danger as much as yourself. You can arrange some meetings in a safe place, at Rynn's. Of course, you have the right of seeing your friends, and do whatever you want to have fun with them. Nevertheless, until the quarrels are settled down, you have to behave with reservations, and you have to be very careful. I know that being with friends is distracting, you cannot be unguarded; so if you want to see them, then you have to ask permission from Mom and Dad. They will do the arrangements with Rynn for you. Are we clear on that, Rica?" Ivy asked earnestly.

The young vamp sighed. Her emotion was almost totally depleted from the wise advice, not only from her sister, but also from the sorrow of my mom, mom had experience with that because of me._ I hate when she shows that she is very aware of the dangers I brought on myself. _I sighed too_._ Then I felt an awkward feeling from Tammy. I reached for her. _"Calm down, my little witch, no one is mad. We are dealing with your teen aunt. You will understand in 15 or 16 years, love._

Tammy made a demanding noise, waving her arms and twisting her little body. Ivy held her better and she kneeled in front of me, the baby stopped her tantrum, now she could see me.

"Yes, Ivy. We're clear." Erica said and she went to sit down on the mattress at my side, she passed an arm over my back. "Are you in pain?" she asked me. I shrugged my good shoulder. "Growing up sucks!" she told me bitterly.

I nodded firmly _"You are so right, kid! It sucks dirty dishwater! Yeah, you laugh now, Tammy. But you won't be laughing when your mother is scaring to death the boys brave enough to ask permission for taking you out..." _Ivy's laughter joined our baby's giggles.

"Oh yes, I will. You are right no one is going to be good enough for my babies." She spoke to me amused.

"God! Does Tammy know who you are, Sweetie?" Mom seemed very surprised, whilst tenderness filled her expression.

"Yes, she knows, and she wants to be with her too. But with the fur, Rachel herself doesn't want to risk any infection in Tammy. She is very marked from her hospital childhood." Ivy said.

"That's sad but it's for the best. Even when we bathed her the best we could, we can't be sure she isn't carrying harmful germs." Claire said. "And she can use her bond with Tammy to calm her, and to make her feel loved on her behalf. It's really amazing. I think the bond will weaken when the babies began to be more independent. For now, they need to feel protected, and having her one thought away, gives them the confidence of not being alone at any time. Of course, with Rachel being Ivy's Scion, Ivy can join them in their interactions too. It is fascinating." She smiled at us.

We had a rather quiet dinner. We all had many things to digest, about the things on the net, and how all of our lives would be affected by it now. Due to the videos, the issues surrounding what had happened with the focus couldn't remain private between the vamps and the weres. Serena and Cali had been very kind to me, now they knew the implications of the Were politics and Serena really had a grasp on the difficulties. We agreed to spend more time together. Mom was going to sleep with Cali in the nursery on the couch that turned into a big bed and Serena with Cynthia in the visitor's bedroom. Erica would stay with Ivy in our bed and David preferred to stay in the living room. As for me, well, I was on the exercise mattress that David put in the hallway, near the doors of the main bedroom, and the nursery before heading off to sleep on the couch. Ivy left Tammy in the nursery because our baby had to get used to being in her own room. Besides, my mom was delighted to be able to sleep with her granddaughter for a few days.

There were lots to worry about. Ivy simply disconnected the phone for the night, because it went crazy while we finished dinner. Rynn couldn't be pleased with this development. Certainly he would was visiting us very soon. The drugs allowed me to relax a good part of the night. I was exhausted but I couldn't sleep much. Ivy passed me twice to feed Tammy, and I stared at them for the entire time, until our baby fell asleep again. Ivy was a glorious vision for me, with our little witch in her arms, and our little vamp still inside her. She was staring at me as well, through the little crack she left in the door every time. I could see the longing in her eyes. She missed me in her bed. I missed her too. It was painful while we gazed at each other, knowing that we belonged together. The uncertainty of our new situation only aggravated the pain of the forced separation. Having passed so much time together the last few months was making it so much more difficult to stay apart.

Surely, the witches who were against me couldn't be happy. What would be their next move? Ivy was a planner; she was thinking about all kind of scenarios; and we joined our minds. We both were feeling really blue; we seemed to be surrounded on all sides. On one front were the quarrels amongst vamps. On another front, we had the consequences of the destruction of the focus. Furthermore, we had to consider the coven of black witches. They hadn't attempted to contact me. Nevertheless, they had tried to kill me, and the demons they sent almost killed our baby. We didn't know if the other demons would begin to suspect the deaths of more than one of their kind. They had a net. They had to know if someone just disappeared.

Maybe the weres and the witches would believe the focus killed them. It did, but it had a lot of help, from Claire, Tammy and me. The demons would know something fishy was going on and Al would come sooner rather than later, for his revenge. We were cornered. Neither of us liked it. Now much less than ever, now we had babies, one yet to be born. Ivy felt vulnerable. She wasn't able to fight as she always had, because she still had our little vamp in her womb and that meant four more months of vulnerability. The cherry on top was this mysterious spy. Was he or she trying to help me, or condemn me? What could Claire reveal to us? Would Tammy suffer any consequence in her health because of the change? And that was only selfishly counting direct problems for us. We still had to consider the consequences for David, and my pack's ladies, for Erica, for my own family, for Ivy's parents. We had more than enough issues to keep us awake long into the night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer**: KH owns most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. You know me a bit by now; I just don't like the quiet and peace. Therefore, it's time for another bit of action, even if it's at the end of the chapter. We have a long way ahead yet. Just be patient with me a while, and bare with me a few chapters more. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

My deep gratitude goes to Natasha, whom still continues sacrificing her little precious time to rest correcting my grammar, spelling, and my confusing way to express things. Without you, this would be close to unreadable, thank you, sunshine.

CHAPTER 18

I woke up when I heard the deep little yawning of Tammy. I was lying on the mattress outside, in the corridor. She reached for me with her mind, and I welcomed her, yawning myself. I had slept very little, partly due to the pain and partly concern about the events from yesterday evening. My sensitive wolf hearing picked up the steps from mom, standing from the bed-couch and I could hear the soft grunting from Cali. I could imagine the pretty brunette making herself a curl under the blanket, tucking herself in again without waking. Mom's steps stopped shortly, and I heard her whispers, telling my daughter good morning. The next sounds were from diapers. Tammy's slight discomfort ceased when Mom changed her wet diaper. I could feel the hunger my little one was just starting to feel. Mom continued moving quietly, humming a calming lullaby to my baby, and I could hear my baby's mental protests when Mom started to dress her in another romper suit, one more thick than the yellow one she used to sleep.

Judging by the light coming from the kitchen, I could tell it was barely noon, still an ungodly hour! However, my baby needed to feed every few hours. I called to Ivy, she only fell asleep a couple of hours ago, just like me. My sweet vamp's mind was alert; she knew the reason I was calling, as I sent her the hungry feeling. Ivy was opening the door from our room less than 20 seconds later, with her hair combed. Almost at the same time, Mom opened the nursery door. She was carrying Tammy while Ivy came out of our bedroom, tying a neat knot in her night robe belt.

"Good morning, Ivy!" Mom smiled to my lover. "Hi, sweetie!" she said seeing me, already standing on my three good legs.

"Good morning, Alice!" Ivy nodded "What a good girl you are, Tammy. You didn't cry even once!" she leaned over my Mom's arm to see our baby. Tammy tried to tangle her hair, but she couldn't, the baby mittens Mom had put on her made it impossible! That was the reason why she was protesting! She made a displeased huff. "I know, you're hungry, honey, let's go to the kitchen, and I'll feed you!" Ivy offered. Mom gave her our tiny witch.

I yipped quietly and Tammy waved an arm towards me. I limped towards the kitchen. They followed me down the hall. Ivy sat down in her usual chair to feed our baby. Mom switched the coffee machine on and started to make breakfast for everybody. Mom was already dressed with a black skirt down to her knees, and a nice pale green sweater, but she was still wearing slippers.

"You didn't get much sleep, last night. Did you, Ivy?" Mom said casually, as she cracked eggs into a bowl, she had collected all the ingredients for waffles, and she had them organized over the counter in just a few moments.

"No, not much. Too many things are happening, Alice." Ivy sighed; she didn't use to talk about her problems with anyone. In addition, she knew my mother was always more aware than she seemed to be. I went towards the kitchen's door.

David entered the kitchen. He was only wearing jeans and T-shirt. "Good morning!" he said, he was still sleepy. Mom and Ivy answered him. Ivy was relieved at not having to talk much about her worries. Seeing me sat by the back door, David walked over and opened it for me.

"Where do you…?" Mom trailed off. This was humiliating, but I couldn't use the bathroom. "Ah! Ok. Don't be long, sweetheart." Mom smiled understandingly; I would say more like patronizing, but I stifled my huff. Maybe when I was back, I could convince Ivy to put some coffee in a bowl for me. God, I miss my morning coffee! Maybe Ivy would take pity on me? I could pout really adorably if I try hard!

I went out the back yard into the cemetery, and limped far away from the church, until I reached the wall. I did what I had to, even my mind was very uncomfortable with the fact I was about to satisfy such an intimate need in the open. I tried to imagine I was camping or something. It was very cold outside, and the sky was cloudy. I respected the tombs. I used a little spot, near a tree, next to the short wall that marked the boundary of the cemetery. I was finishing when I heard a car parking on the other side of the wall on the street.

The vamps were exchanging guards. The sounds of the car doors opening and the report exchange followed between the vamps. At the same time, a revolting stench came to my oversensitive wolf nose. It was a stench I couldn't define in words, something smoky and rotten at the same time, something that just seemed to scratch my nose on the way in; it was almost painful to smell, and offensive, as offensive as a fish kept in the sun for two days! The stench I recognized as the one behind the burnt amber when we were at the clearing behind the warehouse at the challenge!

It was a demon odor. However, it didn't feel like a demon was close, my body wasn't tense, and there was no burnt amber odor either. Using my second sight, I searched for the cause of the stench. I was almost as alarmed, as I was astonished. One of the big vampires, Paul, he had smutty glows all over his inner thighs and his back. Even his aura was tainted, but it was a strange smut. Realization hit me like a cold shower. Paul was a victim of a demonic curse! _Holy crap on toast!_

We had a mole in the camarilla. But what if the mole didn't know he was the mole? This was the kind of thing Francesca Borgia was famous for! She had made a deal with a creative demon. Maybe the demon bit Paul pretending to be a vamp girl or man, who knew about Paul's preferences in bed? The demon must have left a connection to allow it to know everything Paul could hear or see. Or it could be Francesca in disguise. What if the demon made the curse for her to use it? One curse giving her the ability of binding unaware vamps and using them as she pleased? What if Paul wasn't the only one bound to her?

I remembered the slightly bad odor that had bothered me since the very first day Rynn Cormel came to visit us after my awakening from the coma. Was Paul a part of his guard that night_? How could I have disregarded that? _Later, when my family came to visit us after the coma and Cynthia seemed to know about my marks. My reaper instincts made me use a spell to protect that conversation! And Skimmer! Skimmer smelt so much worst. My dislike has nothing to do with pheromones! Skimmer was released from jail under Francesca's orders! Maybe DeLavine was allied with Francesca. He was covering for her! Then, I lied to Skimmer on instinct, lying to her had been so natural. I didn't let her know there were two babies. Much less that the babies were mine as much as Ivy's. My reaper instincts must have been why, on some level I had to have known that she was compromised. However, if Rynn talked about it in an unprotected place, then the mole or moles would have heard. They had vamp hearing capabilities.

Thinking about that, I slowly walked back to the church. It was a very worrying issue. I mentally kicked myself. I had let my own happiness and satisfaction at finally being with Ivy; and the joy of the pregnancy distract me from the dangers around us. That vamp bitch Borgia hated all witches, and what would have happened if she knew about Tammy earlier? _God, my baby is in terrible danger!_ My heart clenched at the thought.

I had to warn Ivy immediately. She could surely think of the best way we could use the information. The stench coming from the front of the church was brought to me on the cold wind and my sharp wolf hearing picked up the sound of Skimmers voice. She was calling for Ivy. I ran towards the kitchen door, disregarding the pains in my body brought on by the violent movement, calling desperately to Ivy's mind. Ivy's mind connecting to mine gave me a measure of relief and she 'listened' as I quickly warned her of the danger. David opened the door for me with a mug of coffee in one hand. I could see the blonde vamp already in the archway entrance to the kitchen; she was frozen, staring at Ivy feeding our baby. Ivy's face didn't show alarm.

The blond pretty vamp was using a long white leather coat, and white jeans, with a beautiful angora turtle-neck sweater. _Tease! She is dressed to play on Ivy's vamp instincts! She's covering her neck, trying to tempt my woman!_ An involuntary grunt left my throat.

_"Calm down, Rachel. Everything is going to be fine_." I heard her mental voice on my mind. Mom was oblivious to the danger, still at the stove, making the breakfast. There was some bread in the toaster and David was watching it for her. She was cutting some tomatoes, and frying bacon in a big pan. She had a mug of coffee near her. Mom saw the uninvited new guest; and assessed the visitor wasn't welcome by the icy mask my lover's face had turned into. Normally she was the first person to say hello but she remained silent.

"I thought you lost the baby!" the blond vamp stuttered, it was not the kind of thing I expected from a lawyer. Then she saw me. "Since when do you have a dog?" she got rid from the leather coat with a graceful fluid movement of her arms and body, she dropped it on a chair without looking, however, her vamp elegance made it casual, inciting and charming at the same time. Even that tiny gesture shouted class and smoothness. I remembered how much I disliked Skimmer and why!

"That's Rachel. She got a bit injured when she destroyed the focus, Skimmer." Ivy's voice was colder than ice. "What are you doing here? I thought you said you wanted me to turn into a chew toy."

"No. I was just angry. You know I love you, Ivy. When I saw what happened on the net… I just took the first plane to Cincinnati. I thought you lost your baby. You had only like nine months, how could the baby survive?" She was really tainted, her aura was much worse than Paul's. So, they were paying the costs of the black curse in addition to being the victims of it. Now that I was much closer to the victim and using my second sight, I could notice the smutty stains on her skin were bites. They maybe looked like normal healed bites to the naked eye, but I could see they were black. The smut under the skin was contaminating her even physically. I made sure to send the image to Ivy.

"Do you want some water, Rache?" David said even as he placed a bowl on the floor, near the mattress. I didn't move from the door. Skimmer was shocked, but she very soon would see the truth about Tammy, she had the nose of a vamp, and she was a high-blood vamp from a thousand year old bloodline. If anyone was close to Ivy's skills, it was Dorothy Claymor. I saw the exact moment she smelt the redwood on our baby. Her aura just trembled, and the smutty bites seemed to get bigger. Her aura blackened, as the smudges of smut on it seemed to feed off the bites.

"That can't be!" The blue eyes went wide open for a second and she approached Ivy. "The baby's not a vamp, Ivy!" she gasped seeing the curly ebony hair and the most beautiful features of Ivy's face repeated on the little adorable face of Tammy. It was obvious Ivy Tamwood was her mother. My baby was now drinking her bottle of chamomile tea. "She is a witch!" Skimmer's knees failed her, and she fell on to the chair David barely managed to slip under her. She was in shock. _No! Now she knows! Now Francesca is going to know! _I complained to Ivy's head.

"_On the other hand, maybe she already knows from Paul or one of the others if there's more as you already believe, dear!"_ Ivy replied to me, but her face didn't show a thing.

"_Damn, you're right about that."_ I had to accept it_. _The eyes of Skimmer stared at Tammy shocked and still disbelieving her own senses. Just like if she was waiting for an explanation, or a confirmation. She just couldn't believe her nose! It clashed with the info her eyes were giving her. My baby finished her bottle and Ivy put her against her shoulder to make her burp.

"Yes. Tammy is a witch, Skimmer. There was no low vamp raping me. Rachel is a very talented witch. She didn't know at the time that mixing our bloods, in order to save my life, would have yet another effect. She put so much of herself into the spell that she almost died. She spent more than 6 months in a coma, and I, well I got pregnant with our babies." Ivy smiled peacefully. "Tammy is a witch, she almost reached her term. Witches only need 9 months to be mature babies. Morgan, however, is a vamp and she still has 4 months more to go in here." Her free hand touched gently her much smaller belly for a second.

_Morgan? Ivy called our unborn baby Morgan?_ I made a whistle like sound astonished, while I was walking towards the mattress, still limping. I licked a bit of water from the bowl.

"Morgan?" Skimmer managed to ask, she was still in too much shock to react. The whole time the smut was moving all over her aura. It seemed like a greasy coat with a will of its own, moving in swift swirls that formed little pools staining more some parts of the aura, and then moving towards another point, it was like a living coat of black, viscous liquid! Not at all like normal smut!

"Rache chose the name for the witch. I chose the name for the vamp. I always liked it, it has character." Ivy laughed softly when Tammy belched rather hard for a baby. "Are you alright, honey?" she laid our tiny baby in her arm again. Tammy giggled a bit, and she grabbed Ivy's finger with her little hands, which were covered with mittens. My mom was overcautious because when I was a baby, a cold for me could have meant death. So she overdressed our baby, which meant, Skimmer could not see her marks. Nor could she mine, as a wolf I only had marks visible on the pads of my paws, and my paws were facing the floor as I was standing. The blond vamp watched Tammy playfully gesturing to Ivy. Her little hands reaching for her mom's, Tammy was a very active baby. She always wanted to catch the hands near her. Our baby's coordination was remarkable, maybe because of the ordeal she had experienced right after her birth. Although she was starting to be comfortable in other arms, Ivy's were her favorite arms. Anyone could tell Tammy adored Ivy by the way she wanted her attention and her touch.

Skimmer was gathering herself, her eyes returned to normal, and her mouth made a cute pout for a second. She remained silent while Ivy was cuddling our baby girl. Who knew what was on her mind? She flew over here expecting a new chance with Ivy. Skimmer thought that Ivy would surely be devastated by the loss of her baby. But she found her happily being a new mom. The mom of a witch no less!

"What happened to your witch, Ivy?" she looked at me, without hiding how awkward she found the situation, one she wasn't prepared to face.

"She had to fight both physically and spiritually with the focus in order to destroy it. I think the quarrels will settle down now. Without the focus in the middle; the possible war between weres and everyone else is over before it even started." She shrugged her shoulders. "How is life in Chicago? Are you being treated well?" she asked politely.

"It's ok. There's work to do, I just finished a case. I won. DeLavine is very satisfied with the outcome. I'm kind of dating a new girl." Skimmer started to sound like herself for the first time, playful, cocky.

"I'm glad for you, Skimmer. I hope she is the one." Ivy nodded.

"She's not you, Ivy. But I see you aren't about to reconsider us. What can you see in a dog?" she sighed, her body seemed to slump and there had been quite a bit of bitterness in her voice. Her gaze sent me her disdain. Mom glanced at me, I shrugged my good shoulder. I knew very well that side to side with the beautiful blonde vamp I wouldn't choose me! But Ivy chose me over her! Maybe Skimmer was beautiful, classy, well educated, and a living vamp descendant from a high bloodline, but she was childish, spoiled, selfish, and had no scruples to get away with murder!

"Skimmer, please be nice. Rachel is a wolf, not a dog. And I love her. I just love her." My vamp smiled and an air of contentment seemed to settle over her. I walked towards her. Mom was examining Skimmer with a cold expression on her face, she didn't like Skimmer either! The blonde vamp sighed displeased and her fingers tapped the table slightly. Deciding what her next move was. She was a calculating little bitch!

"You loved me once too, Ivy." She reproached, pouting a bit. _So, she decided to play the cuteness card!_

"I still love you Skimmer, but as a friend. We were kids. Certainly, I will always be grateful to you, for showing me that there was more to life. But I have never been comfortable with the way I lived. I know I'm a vampire and I know how I was shaped to be. Piscary really screwed me up since I was a child." Ivy got serious. "Maybe that is the biggest issue for me. Everything in a vampire's life revolves around the blood. The one we seek for feeding, and the one we seek for breeding. Blood is crucial, if I wasn't a high blood, you wouldn't be here, Skimmer. You would just never have looked at me."

"No. I loved you Ivy I still do. You mean more to me than blood. High blood or not I would still want you." She said the right words but she couldn't quite meet Ivy's eyes.

Ivy was shaking her head "I was a challenge for you, when we were kids. I loved you very much. But be honest, Skimmer. As I said if I had been a regular vamp, with two or three generations to my name, you would have never looked at me. Or if you did, you would have blood raped me and left me behind without a second thought!" My ebony haired partner wasn't being rude, only pensive, almost musing at loud.

"That's unfair, Ivy!" Skimmer eyebrows slightly creased as she said offended. "So righteous now! You did exactly the same things I did! We are the same, even if you don't want to admit it." Her piercing blue eyes sparked with contained anger and blue shrunk a bit in favor of black. "I knew you when you were sixteen years old, and by then you were already a master in blood, and sex!" she accused Ivy openly. "I'm not ashamed to say I learnt some things from you! And you did even worse than me sometimes! You are a high blood vamp! We shared the best time of our lives! You are wasting yourself with a witch!" the scorn on her voice was directed to me, as her angry eyes when she finished the accusations.

"No, it isn't unfair, Skimmer. I saw you doing exactly that. And I did it myself!" Ivy reckoned still thoughtful "I'm not proud of many things I have done in my life. But that's exactly what I don't want anymore. Rachel doesn't care about my blood. She is not a vamp. She cares for me, for the woman I am because she just cannot crave my blood. She offered her life in exchange for mine. I didn't ask she did it because she loves me. And the very reason I fell in love with her was the way she cares. She always tries to be a tough girl, but she cares for everybody, it doesn't matter if they are a pixie, a were, a human, a witch, or a vamp. I don't think I would find another woman like her in my entire life! So I'm seizing my only chance for happiness being with her!" she smiled to me. She knew I already had seen that part of her, she showed it to me the first time we made love with magic running through us, while we were binding magically. She knew I wouldn't reject her for those immature acts she did when she was under the direct influence of Piscary. The answer didn't pleased Skimmer; she clenched her jaws in anger, her lips forcefully closed.

"Ivy! She rejected you over and over; she even tried to defang you!" Skimmer pointed out with a frown –and she glared at me her eyes narrowed. "And if I remember accurately, she always said she wasn't wired to be with another woman!" that was an accusation. Well, that's truth. I smiled at her, letting my tongue hangout one side of my mouth, in a mocking fashion. _Ivy wants me and not you! _I almost chanted in my head, maybe I did, because Ivy began to laugh softly.

"Oh yes!" Ivy acknowledged still laughing. "Mommy was very obtuse on that matter, honey!" she cajoled Tammy, as our baby claimed her attention again by trying to lick the finger she had left in Tammy's hands to play with. "I had my doubts at the beginning, Skimmer. Precisely because she always said she wasn't comfortable with the idea of having sex with another woman. At first, I thought she felt obliged to cede on that point because she got me pregnant. It was a situation I never thought it was possible for me to be in, even with a man!"

She shook her head, and she kissed our baby. "But it turned out she was fighting herself since the beginning. I know it because I suffered the same with you, Skimmer. I wasn't wired that way either. Remember?" She shook her head amused. "I shouldn't say this in front of her mother, but I will. She was a total revelation for me in the bed!" she sighed, leaned back in her chair languidly, her eyes unfocused and a small smile on her face.

"So she is good at sex?" Skimmer crossed her arms, offended. As if that couldn't even be a possibility! _Hey, I'm here, I'm blushing! What we do in bed is private, Tamwood! It's ok if you want to brag in front of that leech, but not in front of mom!_

"Is she?" Mom asked, suddenly interested, she still was at the stove, finishing the breakfast. I wanted to crawl under the floor and just die for a second, I felt so embarrassed. Mom fried the last of the bacon, David was already nearly finished eating a pair of waffles on the counter, still helping her to watch over the toaster.

"I'm going to take a shower; this is not something I want to hear!" David put his mug on the counter and fled, literally running. Ivy shook her head amused. She always found David's closed nature towards any subject related to sex very funny!

"Oh yes!" Ivy took a glance of me. "She is very gifted indeed, very intuitive, and despite her fears, it came to her very naturally since the first time. I'm not easy to satisfy in that regard and you know it firsthand, Skimmer. But she keeps me pleased and sated, I wish I could be as good as she is one day, she just seems to know what I need before I know it." She smiled clearly remembering memories, very pleasant memories, judging by the looks she was giving me.

"You two pass way too much time making love!" Erica came in stretching. "Ah, Hi, Skimmer!" she kissed her on the cheek as she passed by her chair. "Good morning! Hello, Tammy, did you eat already?" She leaned over Ivy to give a bunch of kisses to our baby. Tammy made playful noises and a little baby delightful shout when Erica swung her up and out of Ivy's arms. "Oh yes, I can be fun!" She nuzzled against the little body cradled on her arms safely and Tammy giggled a bit.

"She just finished her bottle, Rica. Don't jerk her around, or she could vomit on you." Ivy warned her amused, and she went to pour a pair of mugs from the coffee carafe. She put one in front of Skimmer and she kept the other for herself. Erica took a fried bacon ribbon to eat while she was looking at the waffles with a hungry gaze.

"I just can't believe it!" Skimmer looked at me with a skeptical grimace; I shrugged my good shoulder again. She huffed annoyed, and I yipped amused by her reaction, I came closer to Ivy.

"That's your privilege, Skimmer. I appreciate your worries about me. But thank heaven, we are fine. Yes, the weres behaved in a despicable way. It was their fault Tammy was born a week early, but she is fine. She is a strong baby, healthy. She is my first born and she is a witch. Rachel had the worst part, but she will recover soon enough. She can recover faster as a wolf, that's why she still hasn't changed back." Ivy lied at the end. "I would be very grateful if you can maintain the secret about my babies at least until Morgan has been born. Rynn wants to keep it quiet until he feels it's the right time to go public. You showed up without calling, and Rynn will surely want a chat with you about this." Ivy warned her calmly, Erica seemed to get serious at that. That was a big issue; to keep the Master Vamp pleased was a sacred duty to all Vamp kind. Especially if you wanted to live a long life as an undead, annoying a master vamp was the quickest way to end up dead twice.

"No one is going to like this, Ivy. Breeding witches is going backwards. No one understands the way Rynn Cormel thinks or what he is trying to gain with this. If your witch is still alive is because he has protected her as much as you! However, that is not going to last forever. For him the two of you are an experiment, Ivy. But the moment he sees the experiment is only of interest to him, and that the other master vamps are angrier every day, then it will be over. You aren't going to have a good time then." Skimmer said very seriously.

"Perhaps you are right, Skimmer. But Rynn has a different vision from the others. Maybe it is because he is younger, or the way he had to approach things being the president. His goals, I don't know about them, but they are important to him. Probably the others cannot appreciate what he is doing. I know it will be problematic at the least. It doesn't matter, I'm with him. It's not only because he approves that I'm with Rachel. But because I think it's worthy to try new things." She said. "I'm sure DeLavine is not approving of any of this. And I know for a fact it was him whom attacked at my mother's house nine months ago, Skimmer." Ivy said cautiously. Skimmer's expression twisted to one of outrage. She didn't believe it.

"DeLavine had no reason to attack your mother's house. You know I have to tell him that you think that? If I keep it from him that he is being accused of an attack it could cost me my place in his camarilla." Skimmer looked torn; she really didn't want to make things worse for Ivy. Despite her faults she really did care for my vamp.

"I know. You have to tell him what I said, don't get in trouble. Probably he will deny it, since he failed. Anyway, just tell him. I can only guess why he didn't go for another shot later. Maybe it was the reaction in general. Many were shocked. Mom had never broken a single rule or order from her master. It is me who has challenged the entire system over and over again. He should have just attacked me, he would succeed, and no one besides my mother would hold a grudge against him." Ivy said pensively. "But I think he was aiming to put me against Rynn, making him appear weak and unable to protect my family. Because the leads pointed first to Natalie, but something didn't add up. Natalie has a different style. If she wanted my mother dead twice, then she would have been dead a long time ago. No, DeLavine chose the wrong master vamp to frame." She looked down at me, the lines in her face easing as I put my head on her thigh, with a concerned whine.

"Don't worry, Rachel. I know she has to talk with him about this, because he is her new master. I only want her to be very aware of the way things are. Perhaps DeLavine will think hard and reconsider his position when he is made aware that he's not fooling anyone." Her gentle hand caressed my good ear. "Skimmer, DeLavine wants Rachel as well. That's the only logic explanation I can think of to explain why he attacked at my mother's house. He wanted to lure me to him and Rachel with me." She added with a tired sigh.

"Why she is just a witch. Their magic is useful but there are plenty of better witches than her." Skimmer's voice was filled with derision. Even if she had spat on the floor, she couldn't have made her feelings regarding my worth any clearer.

"Maybe you cannot believe this. Nevertheless, Rachel is a big trophy many vamps want on their shelves. Some want to kill her. Piscary was one of them. He would rather she was dead than doing the things only she can do. Natalie has been too cautious but she has been neutral about her so far. I think she might prefer Rachel dead too, if things continue going the way they are. DeLavine wants her as his shadow, as his slave, doing charms and spells on his benefit. When Rachel fell into the coma, then DeLavine had no more reason for trying to get me. And there was no other attack. Rachel woke up and she has maintained a low profile, on Rynn's orders. But as soon she was awake, DeLavine sent someone for you, and sent you to me. Maybe he thought a former lover was more likely to convince me. But his real target it's not me, or you, it is Rachel. I was a fool, and I introduced them myself. He was way too interested, and we know how he works." Ivy was frowning, sad, and thoughtful.

"You are seriously delusional, Ivy:" Skimmer had narrowed eyes, but her face was now an unreadable emotionless mask.

"No. You are being too naïve, Skimmer. You should never entirely trust the undead. We are tools to them. No more than tools. DeLavine surely received you most eagerly. And this girl you are dating, she is watching you for him. So don't hold back what I just shared with you. Rachel is staying with me. If you are right and Rynn decides not to back me up anymore, well, then I will be forced to be on my own. But I am living the way I want to live, with the woman I love. Period." Her hand ran possessively down my neck, and her long fingers tangled a bit with my fur. I moved my head against her thigh.

"I sincerely wish you the best, Skimmer. That you find a girl that loves you unconditionally. I want you to be happy and I think you should talk to Natalie, go back to her. She cares for you. But it is you who has to take the first step."

"Natalie was very angry with me, Ivy." The blonde vamp couldn't hide a hint of bitterness on her voice, even if her face remained emotionless.

"She must be furious with me then. I'm sure she considers me responsible for you." Ivy sighed a bit down hearted. "You killed Piscary for me. Even if she hated him, you being the one paying for his death surely caused her to be angry with me. You were one of her favorites."

"She didn't want me as much as she said, Ivy. She never asked me to be her Scion. I was never one of her favorites really." Skimmer's lips closed a bit forcefully. Natalie was a subject that affected her, even if she didn't want it to.

"You were one of her favorites and you can be again. We cannot understand the reasons the master vamps have, Skimmer. But please, be very careful. Do your work; don't cross DeLavine, do as he wishes unless you want a lot of problems. Be careful with your new girl too. "

"She just arrived in the country a few months ago from Europe. She is an art dealer; she might be in charge of the art galleries if she continues doing the job as she has done until now. She has major contacts. She never asks me about the job. DeLavine rather have everything compartmentalized. She follows the rules. We date, we go out, we have sex, and we share blood." Skimmer sounded happy.

"Oh, where in Europe is she from?" Ivy asked, almost casually, she seemed in the mood for a little girly gossip. She took a sip of coffee and I wished I could have some too. Mom took my baby from Erica's arm when she moved restless.

"Tammy needs a fresh diaper, sweetie. Could you watch the last waffle for me?"

"Sure, Alice!" Erica let her take my baby, and she took the glass of milk Mom had served her to take a sip. She waited until Mom left the room and took three waffles to pour a lot of honey on top of them. She began to eat fast, pretending to watch the waffles on the stove. She was way too interested on the chat her big sister was having with her ex.

"Italy, although I'm not sure which region but her family has been there a long time. She comes from an ancient bloodline, more than 2 thousand years old." Skimmer said with pride. "And she is gorgeous." The smut in her aura seemed to swirl while the Californian vamp was talking about her new lover, in an unconsciously passionate way. As if she was summoning her presence and she didn't know it!

"Is she tall then? You did always have a thing for tall women." Ivy gently teased skimmer, but she still only sounded half interested.

"I would say taller than you and younger than both of us, she is only 23 years old. She reminds me of you, Ivy, in some respects. But in others she is completely different from you, she is proud of being a high blood vamp, no guilt, no wrong scruples." Skimmer frowned a bit.

"So, she overpowered you." Ivy smiled mischievously. Skimmer blushed in a heartbeat. I was feeling more alarmed.

The description fitted Francesca Borgia. But Skimmer would know if she was undead. Unless Francesca was binding her and tricking Skimmer's mind into believing she was a living vamp. So much for the blood sharing, Francesca was controlling her, and Skimmer didn't notice at all.

"She is from an older line. She is stronger than any other living vampire I know, including you, Ivy." Skimmer pointed out with some venom in her tone.

"I have no doubt." Ivy smiled again, amused. "I'm not too strong. Piscary made it very clear to me, Skimmer and I am a realistic person. I know there are more lines, and the older ones will always produce stronger living vamps. The raising of such heirs is always demanding, looking for the enhancement of the strong features. I lived it. She sounds great for you, Skimmer. Does she have the liberty of having her way or is her family looking for an advantageous marriage?" she asked.

"We haven't talked much about it. She will probably leave in two or three years. She likes it here, but…" Skimmer enthusiasm decayed in a split second. "Well, I better go. I can just say that you are on very slippery ground, Ivy. Rynn Cormel has to change his mind or he will not be a master vamp for much longer. That's the word everywhere." She stood up gloomy, and she took her coat.

"He knows. But he is strong minded too. We will face the consequences, Skimmer. If we never see each other again, have a good life. Be happy. And be very careful. Take care of yourself." Ivy stood up and for a second I thought she was going to hug her old friend but she didn't. I could feel Ivy's slight sadness at the way things had turned out between her and Skimmer; after all there had been a time when they meant everything to each other. She accompanied Skimmer to the door. There was a car waiting for her, no doubt it would be taking her to Rynn.

Ivy wasn't smiling when she returned to the kitchen. "_Rachel, don't say a word of this, not a word to anyone, not yet." _She asked me inside my mind. I nodded. She kneeled in front of me and she hugged me. "I will take a shower now, dear. Don't start complaining, ok?" she smiled to me. I licked her hand and I nuzzled against her neck. She scratched my fur softly, and I melted down onto the mattress whimpering. "Really, Rachel, I don't know how you can contain yourself from scratching. But thanks. I can rub the bug's nose in it for the rest of his life!" she laughed softly, light hearted. I just was enjoying her short nails wiping the uncomfortable sensation on my skin off for a little while.

Serena and Cali took care of answering the door for the day. Many people were coming to the church out of curiosity, and a lot of cars and other vehicles were passing all day long in front of the church. Ivy made some phone calls, to her informants. She wanted to know what had happened to Skimmer after her meeting with Rynn. It didn't take her long to find out Skimmer was in a hotel, she hadn't left town.

Keasley came to visit briefly; he wanted to get to know our baby. And Ceri called Ivy's cell phone. She had seen the video on the net so she knew what had happen but she wanted to be sure we were ok. She knew I was the wolf. She taught me that curse. The day passed with some discussions at the door. Jenks was the one rejecting cases, we were in no condition for working. We wouldn't be able to work for some weeks. Jenks assessed that only two of the visitors were legitimate. Even though, he warned him we were out of business for some months. We didn't want to work until Morgan was already born. And we needed to be sure there would be no more problems with the weres, and the vamps.

When I went out shortly after sundown to satisfy nature, a heavy snow was covering the cemetery. Suddenly every instinct I had screamed that I was in danger. I tried to run, but a shadow passed over the outside wall and it was so fast! I just felt the kick, it had to be a kick, but it was so powerful it felt like a Mack truck had hit me. The impact was so blunt and clean I actually heard how my ribs cracked as they broke, and I felt the way the shattered bones penetrated into my right lung. I knew I was in serious trouble I was already injured and now my lung was punctured. I saw the tombstones passing rapidly beneath me, almost like a blur.

I hadn't even realized I was in the air, but the strength of the impact had sent me flying through the air. I even couldn't make a noise or cry out, because all the air was missing from inside me. Suddenly the floor was coming at me very fast, and my body bent in an impossible way as my good side crashed against a tombstone and I knew my back was broken. Vertebrae in my backbone just snapped like matchsticks. My still functioning lung turned into a bloody puree. My furry body slipped into the snowy ground.

Then I smelt the burnt amber and the unmistakable stench, smoky and rotten, piercing my sensitive nose, that told me a demon just appeared close to me. And the shadow became a man. A witch, he was excited and apparently on brimstone. His reddish eyes seemed to almost glow as he stared at me. His cheeks were hollow and his bare chest served to highlight his gaunt appearance. He was only wearing a pair of faded jeans. His skin seemed to be whiter than the snow surrounding us. He was even barefoot. No way could he have kicked me like that! He was fairly skinny, and he had no muscles at all. But he was the one.

"Well done, Jack!" the demon was just suddenly stood there his hand on the witches shoulder and he looked almost fatherly. I saw the circle I had drawn once before, a long time ago over a tomb (The tomb of Pierce, with the broken angel statue on it). I had just landed inside it and both the demon and witch where inside its boundaries. "Now, it is time for you to die!" the demon moved his hand and the witch was trapped by the neck, he wasn't strong anymore, he tried to yell, he tried to kick, but the ley line current fried his brain in matter of seconds. The demon tossed the body away, with no apparent effort. Then he stared at me and began to cackle.

My paw moved just a bit, and I ordered in my mind. _"Rhombus"_ The current of ley line seemed to sever my spine even more, when it ran through me, and my rear legs did not respond at all. Even so, I could still lift the circle that entrapped the both of us. Just in time, Ivy was coming at vamp speed, David and my mom close behind her. "Noooo!" the demon yelled when he realized we were both trapped, and he mumbled something. I felt the curse falling upon me. I made an effort and my paw, the only one still functional, scratched his leg, before he could do anything else. It was the only thing I needed to make him catatonic.

His arsenal began to pass through my marks and inside me. His body was rigid for a moment before he fell over me. I had to do this quickly. I bit his neck too; my body was twitching and lashes of pure agony radiated from my severed spine to every cell of my body. I didn't know what the curse was it, but the spiritual energy of the wolf I fought the night before seemed to have prevented it from acting immediately.

"Rachel!" Ivy was frantic. She must have known what had happened. "Oh no!" she stopped at the energy enclosing the demon and me; I was bleeding through the mouth, and nose.

"Sweetie?" Mom called to me very scared. I wasn't breathing, I couldn't breathe. Both my lungs had collapsed inside me and both were filled with blood, I was drowning in it. The heat all over me was moving, the heat of the spiritual energy. It seemed to crawl inside my skin towards my severed spine, and then it turned cold. It was filling my nervous system, coating my brain, and my nerves. Or was it the curse? I didn't know I felt I was dying. The cold wasn't too unpleasant; it was like lying on an ice track, slowly spreading towards my entire body. It moved until I couldn't hear the voice of Ivy inside my brain, and my heart was stopping. Suddenly I realized the reaping was completed. But instead of a wave of fire, this time it was a wave of blue cold energy that came out of me. The demon turned into an icy statue. A perfect ice statue of the demon was all that remained. It broke into little pieces when I released it from my jaws. My paw fell and passed through the circle, breaking it, and all my body shuddered with the rapture of the energy whipping my nerves.

Ivy hugged me carefully, she knew my back was broken, I could feel her fear, her pain. She tried to find the way of carrying me, without hurting me. That was impossible, I felt the pain, and she felt it too, then, she ran towards the kitchen. She just wanted to protect me, to take care of me; I could feel all she was feeling. David and mom were very scared behind her. Ivy put me on the mattress. My heart was stopping; it was turning into a cold stone in my chest. The demonic magic I stole was being stored inside me, this one had much, but I spent almost everything I had before with the focus. For the first time I didn't feel completely sick from the reaping. But the spiritual energy and the damn curse were screwing up something else inside me.

Ivy took my muzzle in her hands carefully, and she locked her eyes on mine.

"Please, Rachel, make an effort, change into a witch, I don't care if you lose an arm. I just want you alive, that's all, change!" she begged me with her voice broken, she was so very afraid. She could hear my heart barely beating. She knew I couldn't breathe. The tears coming out of her eyes made my heart jump. _Why do I always make her suffer?" _

I tried to focus on changing back to witch. But something inside my brain interfered. I was drowning! I ordered a change, but I forgot the words, the coating of spiritual energy wasn't helping me now. "That's it, dear, yes!" Ivy nodded. My body was changing. _God, I'm about to die, I still cannot breathe. Healing! That's what I need, healing! _I tried to focus on that and something happened. But not exactly what I had intended. "No!" Ivy hugged me "Don't leave me, Rachel!" she begged me anguished. My heart wasn't working, my lungs weren't working, my body ceased any activity, my eyes were closed, but I was using my second sight, so, I could see mom falling on her knees, with a heartbreaking and suffocated exclamation. The cold in my body grew more intense every second. I was blue, because I wasn't breathing and I was really cold.

Ivy put me down again, and she started to give me CPR. I was very numb; I didn't feel the pushes of her hands against my chest, even when I could see them. Although I couldn't feel the air activating my lungs, my chest moved, but only while she was forcing air into my lungs. After that, there was no movement at all. _Am I dead? _I asked to myself. No, the magic was working on my body. I was very aware, but…I seemed dead. An ambulance arrived in no time, and before I knew I had a tube inserted in my throat, and an IV in my arm, and Ivy was with me in the ambulance.

It was very strange, the way the doctors acted in the emergency room. They used many drugs on me, shots directly to my veins, and through the IV, oxygen, they used the electroshocks on my chest 5 times, it was painful and my body just jerked up and down as my muscles clenched due the electric current stimulating them. One guy was continuingly applying the cardiac massage, and he broke three of my newly healed ribs again doing it. I wanted to protest, but my body didn't respond to my commands. I was only lying in there, vulnerable, unable to lift a finger even if my life depended on it. However, I was aware of everything. I could see the turmoil in Ivy's aura; she was near to the place I was being treated. I tried to reach her, I tried with all my being, and I couldn't! The coat of spiritual energy on my nervous system was interfering, and I just couldn't find a way to tell her I was alive! The medics tried to revive me for almost an hour. Finally, the doctor in charge said I was officially dead. One by one, they left till I was alone. My family was allowed in then.

I saw the smutty blackness of demon magic long before I could figure out it belonged to the young woman close to an entrance on the corridor near the cubicle I was in. Mom was crying in a corner, with Cynthia. David tried to comfort them. Skimmer was with the woman at the entrance. I saw Francesca Borgia for the first time. She was 2 inches taller than Ivy. Pale white skin, ice blue eyes, she was more corpulent too, bigger breasts, wider hips, although her stature made her look slender but curvaceous; she didn't look athletic. She was more the type of the classic movie vampress. Very attractive, and she had the Nordic features, big eyes, full lips, high cheekbones. She was pretty, but the coldness on her visage denoted her undead condition. She seemed very young.

Francesca looked at my apparently lifeless body with a cruel smile. As if she knew I wasn't dead. _Damn! The curse the demon put on me! This was what he wanted, what she wanted! She planned on robbing my body maybe from my grave! _She wasn't pleased when Ivy came to my side and just hugged me, crying over me. Then her expression showed a hint of scorn and even hatred. Skimmer came to Ivy, leaving her behind. Erica was hugging my vamp at her side. Ivy was devastated. I could see Rynn Cormel was coming, his bodyguards had almost reached us and Francesca went out the other way, making a gesture to Paul, and another of Cormel's guys.

I felt like an anvil dropped into my stomach, I had a very bad hunch. I saw Skimmer's face, she was torn; she was tortured. The smut in her body concentrated on her head, and her right arm. The smut on her aura was swirling quickly. I had to do something! But what? Despair filled me, I wanted to warn Ivy. I tried to reach her for the millionth time. Skimmer's hand closed on one of the surgical instruments in the tray the doctors left beside the emergency cart with the electroshocks machine.

She stabbed Ivy. Erica screamed and she went over the blonde vampire while Skimmer's arm was repeatedly stabbing Ivy at vamp speed, with vamp strength, I felt the embrace of Ivy's arms tightening on my body. I saw her face shocked by the treason. The physical pain added to her heartache at my lost. Then when her fingers touched my bare skin on the back, where the spiritual energy penetrated my nervous system, the rings on her finger just locked on one of my vertebra, and the charms in them gave the connection between us a boost. _"Ivy! Nooo!"_ I was screaming and she finally heard me.

"_Rachel?" _she was shocked_._

"_I'm not dead, Ivy. The demon put a curse on me before I could reach him! It was Francesca, I saw her face, and this is what she planned to get me. She will take my body from the graveyard, and then remove the curse! Maybe she knows by now I can do demon magic and she wants me to do what demons ask too high a price for_. _I don't know and I don't care! She can't have her way! I belong with you forever. That bitch just forced Skimmer to attack you. She just wants you dead for being with me, for loving me, and for having our babies! Please, Babe, don't go down, you fight to live! Tell Jenks to ask David to steal my body, Make him call Claire, and put my ring on me, that's why we can reach each other now! Stay with me, Tamwood, you don't give up on living, for me, for our babies!" _I sent her the image of my second sight; Skimmer was falling on her knees crying, she didn't even cover herself from the blows Erica was throwing at her. She was a rag doll, a broken doll. Her new master just abandoned her to pay for a crime she didn't want to commit in the first place. She made her try to kill the only real love of her life.

I felt the warm blood from Ivy spilling all over me. She made an effort and put my ring on my finger. Then, the medical hell got unleashed in the emergency room again. The doctors came in and they tried to stop Ivy's bleeding. Rynn Cormel ordered that Skimmer was taken away. She was unconscious. Erica had kicked the blonde vamp until Rynn stopped her and Skimmer didn't lift a finger to defend herself. She was crying like a baby, mumbling for forgiveness. She wasn't herself. Ivy called Jenks and she muttered instructions, the pixie was startled, but he saw something that convinced him when I pumped into Ivy a burst of strength when her heart was failing. It just picked up a regular beat again, and she glanced at my body with a grateful look.

Kimberly Tamwood arrived with my little witch in her arms, and her husband, Robert by her side. They went to take charge of her when Erica called them. I was left aside; someone put a sheet over me. My beloved vamp was taken into a surgery room when they managed to stabilize her enough to move her. She was very injured, I didn't know a thing about medicine, but they said the renal artery was severed, and she was bleeding to death in just seconds, and her kidney was severely damaged. She had gone into shock from the blood loss in matter of minutes. But I never left her alone, I was keeping her focused on staying alive, giving her all I could gather in me to reinforce her mind and body; like she did for me during my fight with the focus.

Rynn Cormel came to uncover my face, with a frown. I didn't care about his disappointment. Mom was crying over me, I hated making her suffer, but Ivy needed me more and I just couldn't do anything to comfort mom now. I really felt gratitude towards Cynthia because she was with mom and she did her best to support her through this tragedy. I could reach Morgan; my petit baby vamp was very distressed. She was very afraid, and she felt really weak. The bleeding had affected her, because Ivy went into shock. _God! I'm losing them. _I said a prayer when the drugs made Ivy all fussy and she couldn't make sense anymore and she didn't seem to listen to me. I was desperate and I only curled my consciousness around her, begging her to hold up, to keep fighting.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I am setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

A/N. I want to say thanks to all of you reading this story, and coping with my new updating time.

To the ones reviewing, I just want to say you are keeping me trying to finish this story, my deepest gratitude for your time, and your opinions, I really appreciate every one of them!

Last but not least at all, Natasha kept losing her precious time helping me with this, not only correcting, but giving me invaluable advices and even ideas, all the Malone incident is hers! She really improved this chapter with her insights, to the point, this chapter can be called a collaboration. It's a pleasure working with you, sunshine. And I'm the one to blame for the delay in the new chapter of her own story: All heil the Heartbreaker. My apologies to the ones waiting for her to continue it, I will try to rob a lot less of her time for you to enjoy the next chapter on her story! Thank you very much for doing this with me, Natasha! My debt to you is increasing.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 19

I was lying on a metal table, covered by a rough white sheet, with a label tied to one of my big toes. Funny thing was, everybody seemed to know I would end up like this sooner rather than later, but I was still alive! They had brought me to the hospital's morgue. There was another three tables in the room, but only one had a corpse on it. One part of me was focused on Ivy while she was in surgery, and my distressed unborn vamp baby, Morgan was too quiet, the drugs surely had reached her as well. However, another part of me began to pay attention to other issues. I was hoping Jenks would do something to get me out of here soon!

I was just wondering whether they would reuse the sheets and toe tags and coming to the slightly disturbing conclusion they probably did when I heard an unmistakable high-pitched sound – pixie wings! I used my second sight to see how my partner worked on the surveillance cameras, looping them. I could hear the phone on the desk, in the little cubicle office just in the entrance of the morgue. I could discern David was using his cell phone down a nearby corridor, I just could see him through the wall, but the employee couldn't see him or hear him. The employee at the desk went out in a rush after hanging the phone, and then I could see Serena, Cali, and Cynthia creeping out of a corner of another nearby corridor. They were gesturing to David from behind the doors the employee had just used. So, David had made a prank call to get the clerk out of his post! It was a good move.

David entered the door when he saw the signal from Jenks in the round window. Bis was standing on David's shoulder, looking around nervously. Jenks had already looped the security cameras, and it was safe. Bis settled down as soon he saw the pixie, he knew first hand how good was Jenks at his work, now he was sure nobody could have a clue of their presence in the morgue!

"Quickly, my man, just grab her and get the hell out, we only have 5 minutes." Jenks said whilst he was cutting the label on my toe with his silver knife. He flew towards the only other body on display and he tied it onto the stranger's toe, after cutting the one attached to its toe. The little pixie crawled under the sheet covering the corpse for several moments. My second sight allowed me to watch, as Jenks stopped close to one of the corpse's legs and removed a powerful amulet that had been strapped to his back. Whoever had made it must have used my method of creating small amulets, there was no way Jenks could carry a regular sized amulet. It seemed to glow a soft orange and I knew it was active. Drawing his sword Jenks cut a neat line into the calf of the leg and slowly pushed the amulet inside the dead flesh.

Meanwhile David was just staring at my covered body, his face showing sorrow and concern. He lifted the sheet on my head, uncovering me down to my shoulders only. His eyes twitched a bit, and I could see his pain.

"Are you sure, Jenks?" David's tone made it clear he wasn't entirely comfortable with this. After all, he was breaking the law.

"Tink's a Disney whore, David. Yes! Ivy told me Rachel has a curse on her. I hope Claire can remove it. She's still alive!" the pixie said getting out of under the sheet covering the corpse.

"She is alive. There's magic all over her, preserving her body." Bis said. "Quickly, Mr. Hue! Just take her and let's go!" Bis's words seem to do the trick and David picked me up, gently, as if afraid he would hurt me. He had managed to get the sheet tucked under me and I was grateful my ass wasn't going to be on display to the whole world. David carried me, through the door and into the corridor. Serena, Cali and Cynthia were there; ready to intercept anyone that might notice what my alpha male was doing. For a second they stared at me and Cynthia's hand reached towards me but she pulled back before it touched me. Taking a shaky breath she looked at Serena and Cali, nodding they turned and ran along the corridor.

They veered left almost running and disappeared from my sight, and I understood there was another corridor crossing this one, one behind a large chunk of solid soil. David quickly followed them round the corner, and I knew this was the place where they had been hiding, from the view of the morgue's clerk.

"Claire said we have to hide in the hospital. If Rachel is in contact with Ivy, then Ivy has a better chance of surviving. There's a storage room down this corridor, Cynthia just opened it with magic." Serena said. Jenks went to fix the cameras again, and we hid in the storage room. David carefully put me on a big crate of equipment. The girls perched on other boxes or crates in the small room.

Suddenly there was a shift in the pressure and Cali gave a strangled shout as Claire just appeared. She had brought Rez and Shar with her, the room was seriously crowded now. A big backpack with magic supplies was hanging from one of Claire's shoulders. She was dressed very casually; warm jeans, a dark blue sweater and a black leather coat that provided a touch of elegance.

"Gosh! How could you do that?" Cynthia whispered astonished. "How could you know where we were, and how did you just appear in the thin air?"

"A witch never reveals her secrets, dear. Let's see." She placed a hand over the back of Shar, surely to locate the ley lines nearby and she protected the room with a complex charm using ley line energy. "Well, now we can talk at a normal volume." Reaching over my body, she drew back the sheet covering me. Coughing slightly David quickly put his back to my nudity. The cook's gaze seemed to go distant, and I knew she was using her second sight to look for evidence of the spell. "Ouch." the old witch sighed. "I guess you are very lucky, kiddo. The spiritual contamination protected you from the curse, and it gave you a way to reach out. I'll be damned! You are the luckiest witch I ever met. Even bad things end up helping you!" she chuckled whilst shaking her head in amused no motion.

"Is she alive then?" Cynthia and Serena asked at the same time. Claire put the sheet over me again, leaving just my head uncovered. _Thank God!_ I wasn't enjoying being naked and this vulnerable at the same time.

"Very much alive!" Claire smiled at Serena and my sister in law, before focusing on me again. "The curse is not easy to lift though. Rachel, but maybe you can overpower it. The spiritual contamination is a part of you now. It's helping you, and the curse to lift this one should be stored inside of you. The demon almost certainly would have had the counter curse inside him and you should have taken it just like the rest of his curses. I know you are feeding Ivy all you can, to give her and your unborn baby a chance. Therefore, you cannot let yourself be distracted from that or it could be fatal for them. So, at the same time you are with Ivy and Morgan. You have to make an extra effort. I will stir a potion, and I'm going to make you drink it." She said calmly, as if she knew I was aware, and I felt grateful she talked directly to me that made it more comfortable to the others, despite my aliveness, I looked like a corpse!

"A potion? What would that potion do?" Cynthia asked interested, combing my hair with her fingers, in a sisterly fashion.

"It will make it easier for her to control the spiritual energy." Claire informed her, and then she looked at me again. "That spiritual energy is cloaking your nervous system at the moment. It will protect your body's integrity and your spirit as well. Somehow, you have to find the ability to control it, but you have to learn to nourish it with your own spiritual energy, kiddo. The potion will make it easier at first to control it, and then you can go on instinct, that seems to work for you. What's that?" Claire frowned. A little noise came from the corridor. Bis and Rez jumped to hang from the little round windows on the double doors of the storage room.

"Don't worry. It's only the hospital's staff, collecting the dirty laundry." Bis said.

"There's no dirty laundry in the morgue, they take the sheets with the corpses, don't they?" Cali asked uneasily.

"Jenks is lost in the corridor, he is hiding!" Rez said worried.

"Oh, open the door quickly my boy, let him enter, you have to put your head out, or he won't see you or the room." Claire said to David. "I charmed this room. For now, it doesn't exist to anyone outside of it, except Ivy and Tammy. No one can hear us or see us." She explained quickly, making Cynthia's big eyes open wide with admiration.

David did as Claire had told him, and Jenks entered the protected room in a hurry.

"Tink's G string! That was close! Those vamps almost saw me!" he said landing on his shoulder. David closed the door, getting all of us back to the protection of the spell. "You are full of resources, Claire! I couldn't see the door until David called me!" he complimented the old witch.

"Vamps?" David asked him.

"Yes, they entered the morgue using the other corridor, where you were hiding first! They took the body with Rache's label, put it into that laundry container and got out! Rachel was right. They just robbed what they thought was her body." the pixie complained. "We rescued her just in time, thanks, my man!" he sounded grateful and proud.

"Wait a minute. Why?" Claire asked suddenly concerned.

"Why what?" Serena asked her disconcerted.

"Why rush into robbing the body, Serena? If we all think Rachel was dead, the safest thing would be dig her out her grave, after the funeral, when no one would suspect." Cali said worried. "So why to rob the body now?"

"They have to have planned this out beforehand." Claire said worried. "This means that demon was sent to curse Rachel like that and he incapacitated her before he came close enough to curse her. Why, though, are they rushing to get her body?" she ask aloud but thoughtful.

"It makes sense; they take her and get out of town as quickly as they can. By the time anyone noticed it would be at least morning! In a plane, she could be out of the country by then!" Serena said in a practical fashion. "Maybe they were worried if Rachel might be cremated instead of having a grave!"

"But Cali is right, my child. If the summoner wanted Rachel, he or she could wait to the funeral, and then take her out of her grave or robbing her body from the funerary, with a lot less danger than in a vamp hospital!. And no one would suspect anything. After that, he or she could enslave her, the corpse's robbers being vamps; we can assume: it was a vamp or master vamp that ordered this. He or she is confident of making Rachel a shadow to force her to work against her will." The witch deduced aloud, pensively. Her brow creased with the idea nesting in her head. "Then we have the attempt on Ivy's life by Skimmer."

"With Ivy dead twice, it will be easier to control Rachel, because she is bound to her!" Cynthia said alarmed. A shocked silence fall over the crowded room, they exchanged looks. Crap on toast! And I'm here lying unable to move a finger! If my heart had been beating it would jumped inside me.

"Oh God! Robbing Rachel's body this fast; can only mean another attack on Ivy! I have to hurry." Claire said taking out of the backpack a little furnace that worked on batteries, and a spell pot. "Any moment now, there could be another attempt to kill Ivy for good, and with her Morgan as well. Even if they don't succeed in killing Ivy it could be fatal to Morgan!" she began to measure ingredients.

"We have to do something!" Serena said, and I felt grateful to her, since I was unable to do anything to physically help or protect my lover and unborn child.

"You have to watch and let me know if anything suspicious happens. Rez please hide in Cynthia's purse." Claire asked hastily.

"Why? Ah, Ivy's room is seven floors underground, only two floors beneath this one. Do you want me to tap a line?" Cynthia's asked nervous. "Do you think it is necessary?"

"Yes, my dear! You or Alice cannot tap a line here without knowing exactly where it is, touching Rez will give you an image of the lines, no matter if we're underground." The old witch said in a calming way. "That's why I brought Shar with me, and asked her to let Rez coming as well."

"May I, mom? I'll be good, I promise!" the little gargoyle stared at her mother.

"Yes, little one. Don't let anybody else see you." Shar nodded.

"Yes, mom!" she almost jumped in excitement. Cynthia opened her purse in front of the little gargoyle, which was standing on a near crate. And the little gargoyle crawled inside it, her wings folded over her small body. "Your purse smells good, Ms. Morgan! It smells like cookies!"

"There's still one wrapped in a napkin in there, you can eat it if you like, Rez." Cynthia offered.

"Thanks, Ms. Morgan!" the little gargoyle poked her head out from the purse, her short claws already had the napkin.

"I'll check the parking lot for suspicious vehicles!" David said concerned.

"I will be watching the stairs in the access floor and the first floor, at ground level. You take the elevators area in the sixth floor underground, Cali." Serena nodded, she was happy to be able to do something else than sitting on a crate.

"I'll be covering Ivy's back, Rache. You're in good hands here." Jenks said anguished, he loved the both of us, but he was really used to being with me. I just felt warm gratitude for his consideration. I loved him so much. He was my best male friend; more than a friend, he was my family. "Bis, you stay with Rachel, she will need your help to tap a line underground!"

"Understood, Jenks!" the gargoyle seemed to get a firm stance, like a little soldier taking orders.

"Don't let anyone know what we suspect, and don't get in the way of the vamps, especially the undead ones. Just let me know. Cynthia, tell Alice to make a circle to protect Tammy, and you try as well. You must try to protect Ivy and Erica as well as yourselves, in case this takes too much time. With Rez's help you can do it, Alice is a strong witch, and you are better than her at tapping lines, I can tell, she is not good with ley line magic, but a circle, both of you can manage to do it!" Claire opened the door and everyone headed out the door, almost running. Jenks delayed a bit his departure, hovering over my face.

"You have to get free of the curse soon, Rache! Not even I can deal with undead's speed! Tink's titties! You really scared me for a while! Get well!" He told me in a hurry, and I just wished I could hug him and say how sorry I was for that!

"Tell Alice I will do my best to help, Jenks." Claire said to him when he darted out the room, he nodded staying at eye level with her for a split second.

While I was listening to my friends and Claire at the door, Ivy's mind began to make sense again. She worried. She focused. I gave her even more of my energy and strength. I did not care if that could hurt me; I just wanted my lover and my baby safe and alive. I focused on her. I decided not let her know about our suspicions of a new attack, she was too pained and weak! The stress of knowing that an attack could be imminent would only make things worse.

The surgery was done, but she was still in a critical condition. Our baby was too weak as well. The blood loss was too great for her to overcome the shock to her body. Ivy could hear Rynn, (and her parents' voices talking to the doctors. I could hear the spell pot beginning to boil, and Claire got busy working on the potion. She was talking to me, trying to explain how she was making the potion. But I focused on the discussion Ivy was overhearing.

Kimberly asked for the outcome of the surgery they had just performed.

_"At this point there is really very little we can do. The trauma and the blood loss she sustained are too grave, Mrs. Tamwood. Now, there is not much we can do, she could survive a few hours, but I doubt she will see another nightfall. Terminating the pregnancy might have saved her life if it had been done two hours ago, and we had instructions to save both. But at this point, with the damage she has already sustained, that would now be fatal to your daughter as well." _The weary voice clearly belonged to one of the doctors.

_"There has to be something you can do! I can't believe a high blood of Ivy's caliber is in danger of dying from a simple stab wound." _Rynn's voice was hard and uncompromising.

_"There wasn't just one stab wound, Mr. Cormel, there were 8 stab wounds, which almost destroyed her kidney and severed the renal artery! Miss Tamwood is a very high blood and now the surgery has been able to repair some of the damage, it is true that she would probably recover if her body could heal fast enough. Unfortunately, in order to get her through the surgery alive we had to give her transfusions. Not many vampires give blood and most of the blood we gave her was from humans. So the vampire virus is diluted and busy infecting the new weaker blood. In short her healing abilities are currently no better than that of a standard ghoul." _The voice was younger than that of the first doctor and I wondered how many of them it had taken to keep Ivy alive.

_"Doctor Matthews is correct in his summation of the patient's condition. The only course of action I can see that could result in both her and the unborn child surviving would be if a donor can be found." _The older doctor said earnestly.

Robert's voice was sharp and demanding._ "What sort of donor? A blood donor?"_

_"Yes, but the blood would have to come from an undead at least twice as old as her living blood line, which I believe is a thousand years. So she requires a donor of at least two thousand years of age. The age is important for two reasons. Firstly, it needs to be strong enough to combat the damage while coping with the diluted levels of the existing virus. Secondly, it should ensure that the virus is able to subdue the strain already in her blood stream rather than fight for dominance. Mixing two living strains normally doesn't cause problems but mixing an undead strain with a living strain that didn't create the line can be fatal if neither is strong enough to easily win and the host is already as weak as Miss Tamwood is right now." The older doctor said. "You have to find such a donor in the next 8 to 10 hours. Any longer than that and it would be useless as well, and she will die her first death." The strained voice sounded like a condemnatory sentence from the Angel of death itself. "And the baby would die for sure, before getting a chance to born."_

_"We all know the horror that happens when a living vampire this far along into a pregnancy dies. If a donor cannot be found in time then I strongly urge you to terminate the pregnancy before Miss Tamwood dies her first death to avoid aMalone incident."_ I felt Ivy shuddering in horror. She had explained this to me only a few weeks ago. Once a high blood vamp reached a certain point in the pregnancy, normally around eight months. The vampire virus was concentrated enough in the stream blood of the fetus that if the unborn baby died sometimes they would become an undead. It was a rare but horrific situation. An undead baby that could never grow old; and that needs blood to survive. It was known now as a Malone incident after a truly terrible example. A pregnant high-blood living vampire, in Ireland, was hit by a car; she survived but the baby died and became an undead while still in the womb. The undead baby had like all undead vamps craved blood and lacking anything except that most basic of instincts, the undead baby had fed from the mother still in her womb. The woman barely survived. It was the stuff of nightmares. They had to kill the baby in the end as well. I would have shuddered as well if I was able to move!

As the information came, I felt like I was dying myself. My woman and my child were in very grave condition, and only an elder vamp's blood could save them! How could we find such a donor?

I was aware of Claire moving in the room, making the potion she announced. But the conversation between Rynn and the others was too important for me to miss any of it. So I ignored the cook. Now the doctors had been dismissed and Rynn was very preoccupied. He thought he had just lost me, and losing Ivy was something he couldn't afford. His position would be debilitated without the heiress of the most important vamp bloodline in Cincy. He had Skimmer in custody. Maybe DeLavine could do the blood donation, or Natalie if she was still interested in Skimmer, he deemed quietly.

But Kimberly pointed out, the quantity of blood necessary for saving Ivy meant she would turn into the new Scion of the donor, and any old master vamp wouldn't let a Scion far from himself or herself. Rynn would still lose Ivy and the Tamwood line had to change its residence. She wanted her daughter to survive. But that solution implied the near destruction of Rynn Cormel's camarilla. It was his call; of course, she wanted her daughter and her granddaughter to survive. Robert said the same. He wanted her daughter alive!

_"No, No. I don't want to be the Scion for any undead! I won't go back to being nothing but a toy. I love you, Rachel. An undead vamp that old wouldn't respect our privacy. They would be able to hear your thoughts through me. I would be forced to be there, and do things I don't want to do anymore! Maybe he or she would try to take you as well!"_ Ivy protested in my mind. Now she was getting painfully aware. She felt so weak and she was in excruciating pain as well. If I could cry, I would have just collapsed in tears! But I had to be strong for them now. I was the reason she was so distracted and unable to defend herself from the treacherous attack Borgia sent upon her!

_"We will find a way, Ivy! No matter if I have to kill an undead elder, you and Morgan will be fine." _

"_We have to protect our daughters. I know what would happen to them if they were raised with me as the scion to an undead, especially an old one. I've lived it. I won't let them hurt our daughters. I would rather die than to know that my babies will have to go through what I went through. You have to promise me Rachel, let me die if being an undead's scion is the only way to save me." The guilt and self-disgust she felt was clear through our bond and my heart ached for my beloved vamp._

"_No! What about Morgan, Ivy? She would die with you. Besides, I'm not losing you, Ivy" I pushed my feelings of love and acceptance towards her, trying to tell her with more than words how deeply I loved her and no matter what she thought, I accepted her for who she was._

"_Better that, than all of you being abused and twisted for the rest of your lives because of my weakness. I don't want my daughters to turn out like me, unable to separate blood and sex, always harming the ones they love. And I won't lose you to some undead monster." She was trying to sound defiant and angry but I could feel her fear, my vamp was almost panicking. _

"_Babe, what are you talking about? You are so strong and you are going to make it through this." Again, I tried to reassure her through our bond and this time I felt a hesitation and then a strange feeling of her being closer. Almost as if she had stepped into my arms and this time when she spoke it was as if she was whispering in my ear. _

"_If I wasn't so weak, I could have stopped Skimmer's attack and Morgan would be safe. I should be by your side protecting you and Tammy while Claire counteracts the curse. I should be strong, but all I want to do is wrap myself in your love and never let you go. Even now, there is a part of me hoping the curse is lifted from you soon and I can drink your blood. I'm worthless, Rachel you deserve someone better." I imagined my arms closing tight around my vamp comforting her and holding her against me. _

"_That is crap, Tamwood! Don't you dare talk like that! You are the strongest person I know. It was my fault you were distracted, you could take that bitch anytime you wanted. My blood is yours, babe, anytime you want it, don't feel guilty about your needs. I'm not going to let you die. I know we can do something; maybe I can heal you and Morgan as soon I can get free of this damn curse! Just hang in there, babe! I will be with you soon!"_ I asked her as anguished as she felt. "_I love you! You have to fight, for Morgan, for Tammy, for me!"_ I begged of her. I felt her hope. I had healed in the past from bad wounds. Ivy's mind wandered to the dirty alley when I first used the elemental healing spells on her awake and aware. She remembered her relief as the pain slowly went away and her body was cured so quickly that no one could suspect she had been injured! That made me confident again! Yes, I could cure her!

_"Please, Rache, come quick!"_ she asked me. _"I need you! I don't think I can keep fighting without you." She didn't add that the pain she was feeling was excruciating but she didn't have to, I could feel it. And her fears that she would cause her daughters and me to become bound to a soulless undead creature were still there. Vamps need to look to someone stronger than themselves, and Ivy was no exception, she relied on me. Injured vampires especially craved the reassurance and without me nearby her fears were running rampant and her instincts screaming that she should get to me. _

_"I need you too, Ivy. I love you so much! I will be there soon! I promise! Finally, seems like Claire has finished the potion, here she comes, stay with me, babe!"_ I saw the old witch lifting my body and making me gulp that disgusting potion she prepared for me. I redoubled my efforts for getting rid of the damn curse.

_"What is happening, Rache?" _Ivy asked me anxious.

_"Damn! Nothing is happening! That potion tastes like shit and.."_ I had to contain myself before complaining about the suspected attack! Ivy was in pain, if she tensed, she could reopen her wounds!

_"You could taste it?"_ Ivy asked me, as I felt how the acute pain increased while two nurses were moving her, preparing her to go to a private room.

_"Yes, maybe it's working slowly, babe. Please, don't move! You're in so much pain!"_ I asked her fearing that she would try to move in order to be with me.

Ivy was moved into a big room, seven floors underground, at the end of a corridor. Mom and Erica were already there, with Tammy. Ivy could hear them, and I felt her happiness when she realized Jenks also was with her. Jenks filled everyone in on what we were doing. Cynthia came into the room with Rez inside her purse. She let them know what was going on in the storage room. However, she didn't mention the expected attack, she only said that just in case they might want to know if they could tap a line down there.

Mom sighed, relief pouring out her at the certain knowledge I was safe and still alive. Then with Rez's help, she tried to tap the line. It was difficult, she didn't have a familiar, and being buried seven stories below the surface was not helping either. Neither of them, Mom and Cynthia could tap the line in the first attempts. I got distracted then, when the cell phone began to sound nearby my body.

The familiar sound of the classic Nokia ring-tone, seemed to fill the storage room, it was David phoning Claire. "Three suspicious vehicles just arrived, and six undead vamps got out. They're in the hospital. Be careful they have swords hidden in their coats." I could hear in the speaker.

"Understood, my boy." Claire didn't bother saying anything else, she simply hung up. The news made me mad with anguish. I had to do something.

_"Rachel? You feel so anguished, what aren't you telling me?" _I heard the mental claim of my lover. I had to let her know! But then, the spiritual energy moved inside me and a dense cold seemed to cover me again. _"Rachel! I'm losing you!"_ I felt her fear getting distant.

_"What? It seems the potion is starting to work! The spiritual energy is cloaking my mind again, I'll be there soon, my love!"_ I shouted to her, and the last thing I could feel from her was hope. _"I will be with you soon!"_ I promised alarmed. I had to do something!

Serena was next to call Claire's cell phone; the suspicious vamps had arrived to her point of surveillance.

"I have them in sight. They are taking the stairs, and not the elevator! They must know where to go, no hesitation whatsoever!" she informed us. "What do I do now?"

"Go find David, dear. Undead vamps, and half a dozen no less, you would be dead before you knew it. We're almost done in here." Claire said to her commanding.

_God! I have to do something!_ The cold on my body stirred. Then in pure desperation, I enclosed my ring in some spiritual energy, and I grabbed something the demon left in me, suddenly my body reacted at last, and a deep gasp filled my healed lungs whilst my hands clenched on the sheet covering me. My body began changing; it was as if my last attempt of transformation had been interrupted. But I had changed from wolf to witch, what was I turning into now? My body became insubstantial, and then I realized I was no longer flesh and blood but made from a gaseous substance instead. At that point, I knew what I had transformed into! One of my deepest fears had come true. I had turned into a demon! I controlled my fear_! I have no time for weakness and fears now! Ivy is not in her right mind yet, and half dozen undead assassins are going for her, every second they are closer to her! I will deal with this later! _

Even with the wild sensation that I was swirling in the thin air, somehow my mind remained focused. I could only guess that the spiritual energy was helping me to isolate the sensations from the changes, and I saw clearly the way I should move. I hovered over Bis for a second and he shivered, Shar laughed at him. Somehow, I saw the magical arsenal I had taken from the demon. It felt natural to me using it. I'm half demon after all! I turned into a solid when I wished hard for it. It seemed that I only had to focus to make myself become solid.

"Son of a troll!" Claire stared at me with her eyes wide open "Barcharolloael was the one cursing you?" she asked me flabbergasted.

"Who?...Crap!" I looked down at myself when my voice came out masculine. Damn! I had turned into a copy of the demon that had cursed me. He was tall, and strong. The weirdest thing was, the sheet I had grabbed came with me, and it was covering the muscular male body I now had. It had transformed in a kind of toga, covering down to my knees, and half my arms. "What? How am I to turn into my witchy being now?" I asked the old reaper, a little alarmed.

"You reaped him even physically, Rache. Damn, kiddo! You are evolving too fast! Most reapers take years to settle and discover things. You just do it!" Claire shook her head. "Barcharolloael - Rollo to his friends - was a warrior, not even close to Juveuos in power, or age; but a warrior class demon nevertheless." She sighed. "And you taking his form, only means you have reaped his body as well as his magic, it's a good thing, because him being a warrior class demon, that gives you the fighting capabilities he had, in a sort of body memory, or DNA memory if you wish. Now you know how demons move!" she explained to me. Then she took a good look at me, head to toe, and shook her head in bafflement.

"Reason and logic says you should have died during your first encounter with a demon. Jenks mentioned it was Algalariept. And even though you didn't kill him, you survived reaping off a larger collection of energy than any new created reaper could with only one exception!" she stared at me. "You are a force of nature, kiddo! Moreover, for some reason, you can transform into other species more completely then I have ever seen before! It takes years for most reapers to master the transformation spells we reap from demons, but you do it in a better way than demons themselves! I would say you do it better than me, it's a feature very hard to master, and it's natural to you, kiddo! Mother said the elves tampered with your DNA; that must be the reason. Between the demons and elves the two worlds are a mess!" She sighed frowning, and rubbing a hand across her forehead.

She shook her head and looked at me from head to toe once again. "You just have to focus on what you wish to turn into and it will happen, Rachel. If you had the spell inside you at least once, you can shift whatever you have stored into it! It's the marvel of elemental power!" she sighed. "We have to talk very seriously, Rachel. You know almost nothing!" she warned me earnestly. I blinked unsure what I was meant to say, most of what she had said had simply gone in one ear and out the other. I didn't have time for this either, my vamp needed me and I still couldn't connect my mind to hers. In all the time, since I had met Claire, she had told me almost nothing about being a reaper and now; that I had no time and was too anxious about my lover's safety to listen; she was finally spilling the beans. I stifled a huff.

"And you are going for higher demons when you haven't even discovered your weapons yet. Most reapers begin simply fighting them physically, Rachel. You are skipping adaptation processes, as I have never seen before, most reapers do not obtain the marks so fast, and most fight a demon only once in the course of several years even decades! But not you! In the course of only a few months, you acquired enough marks to pass to the next level. I should have suspected it when the spiritual contamination did not wear off with the potion I gave you. You are retaining it somehow". She said pensively. I heard her, but only a part of her musing caught my complete attention.

"Weapons?" I asked baffled, now the witch had more of my attention. _I had weapons available to me and I could protect my family with them?_ Besides, what did she mean by next level? The voice in the back of my head asked me and I made a mental note to bring it up with the older witch later.

"Yes, kiddo all reapers have weapons. Usually the first weapon of a reaper is the very tool he or she used to sacrifice his or her life in the first place. It gets stored inside us. Do you never wish for a weapon when you fight?" she asked me somewhat surprised. I blinked. "Later, we can add other weapons to our personal arsenal; I'm fond of the spear I got in Macedonia fighting a warrior demon." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Then I only had to wish for the weapon? It is utterly appropriate that I staked myself, because right now I have to get rid of six undead vamps. It is fascinating, Claire, and I know we have to talk about this, but I don't have any time right now. However, I need to ask for another favor from you."

"Anything, kiddo!" she nodded.

"Can you make something strong enough to contain a very old undead vamp, I don't know, something like chains or ties?" The words came out in a rush. _The longer I'm standing here talking the closer the undead vamps are getting to my Ivy. But this is important too!_

"Piece of cake, kiddo." She nodded again confident. "Are you planning on capturing and questioning one?"

"Ivy needs an ancient vamp virus strain to survive with Morgan. And she is going to have it, no matter what I have to do to get it!" I clenched my jaws still trying to figure out a plan to save my lover and our unborn baby. If I had to kidnap Natalie or even freaking Francesca to feed Ivy, I would do it!

"I love when you get all melodramatic, Rache!" she laughed. "You managed to make a tough demon look like an effeminate guy." she shook her head amused. "I'll go home then and prepare things for our unwilling vampire guest."

"I don't know how still, but after saving Ivy, I have to make a plan to get that ancient blood, maybe Rynn could help me with info. We only have a few hours, but if I'm able to cure Ivy using a healing spell, that could give us some more time. I don't know, just hurry and be prepared, please!" I asked her. "I'll bring Rez to you, Shar." I said quickly. I didn't like that the old witch was treating a matter that meant more to me than my own life so lightly. However, somehow, I knew that in the end Claire really loved me and Ivy. Being so amused was just her way of coping until things got really bad.

"Good. Take care of her." The sexy voice of the gargoyle also denoted amusement. Those two were a perfect match; they never thought anything was too serious! The cell phone rang again.

"Hi, the vamps just took the little blond vamp that stabbed Ivy from a closed room. One of Cormel's guys handed her to them, and she is not going willingly. She is struggling with them, but they are too strong for her! They are back on the stairs, I'm on the sixth floor. What should I do?" Cali asked anguished in a murmur. They were only one floor away from my Ivy.

"Rachel is free and on her way, you go with David and Serena. Do not get close; weres are no match for that many undead vamps, dear. All will be fine now, thanks!" Claire said to the phone, collecting it from the crate she put it. She was putting away the stuff in the backpack again.

"Bis?" I asked my gargoyle friend. My whole body was humming with tension, I had to get to Ivy quickly.

"You're creepy like this, Rache. But I'm in." He nodded and took a high jump to land upon my body, taking his place standing on my shoulder. Thanks to Bis, I tapped the nearest line, despite being so far underground and, throwing myself into the line, I focused on Ivy. I was getting used to the void and surreal sensation that came with traveling the lines and I was sure I was getting better at holding my mind and soul together. My abilities and skill were expanding with every demon I killed, along with the marks spreading on my skin. I wondered briefly if this was what Claire had meant when she was talking about levels. Focusing, I began spindling a lot of ley line energy while I was still traveling the line. I wanted to be ready to face the vamps the moment I came out of the line. I had my family to protect. My sweet vamp was counting on me, and damn myself to the Turn and back if I wasn't ready to slaughter all the assassins, and anyone that dared to menace my girls!


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, now we go into a fight, and begin with another set back. We still have a long journey ahead.

If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

As always, I want to thank to the ones still reading the story.

Thank you for your reviews. In addition, an apology if you tried to do an anonymous review, my four-year-old nephew played with my lap, and he changed the setting on my profile, disabling them. I changed it back, sorry for the inconvenience.

My deepest gratitude goes to Natasha, whom took time from her vacation time to correct my grammar, and gave me her insights, as priceless as always, thank you, sunshine.

CHAPTER 20

As I was about to emerge from the line, I decided to change into the strange gassy form the demons were capable of. I figured my current image could cause a big commotion, and Ivy was in no shape for those kinds of shenanigans right now. Besides, it would give me a chance to assess the situation in the room before anyone knew I was there. I had never been able to change my appearance when I left a line before, unlike Al, but now it was easy. Maybe Claire was right, and having the body memory from a demon was much more useful than I thought in the beginning.

I arrived just in front of the bed, where Ivy was lying with the metal safety rails up on both sides. The room was huge! The bed's headboard was against the bottom wall, opposite the door to the room. Medical gadgets were attached to Ivy's bed and the wall behind it. To the right of the bed there was a night table with a lamp, and phone. Someone had put some flowers in a vase on there as well. They were fake flowers, with only a touch of color, making them look aseptic and clean.

On the other side of the bed was a holder for drips. A big bag of pink liquid was hanging from it, and dropping into the IV attached to Ivy's left arm. Erica was on that side, feeding Ivy ice chips from a little plastic glass. There was a little closet besides her, for Ivy to keep her personal belongings in. A couch was placed along the wall to the left of Ivy's bed behind Erica. A little coffee table was in front of the couch, and two lamp tables at each side of it. Cynthia was sitting on the couch next to my Mom who was looking harassed and tired. She was trying to feed Tammy with some baby formula, but she was having little success. My little witch wanted her mom's milk, and she didn't like the change. There was no circle up around any of them. It seemed Mom had given up on reaching for the line.

On the right hand wall, two pairs of comfortable looking armchairs flanked a corridor. The corridor was fairly long, maybe two meters. At the end of it, there was a marble sink with golden dials and a golden faucet, with a big mirror above it. One side of the corridor had a plain blue door, which I deduced must be the bathroom. On the other side, the corridor widen out, providing a small alcove. There were some shelves, with a coffee machine, a little microwave oven and a small fridge.

Some paintings of marinas on the white walls, above the couch were pretending to be another touch of color and a calming sight to the patients, and above the chairs were also little paintings of sea sights.

Bis landed at Ivy's feet with gargoyle agility, without touching her, but his presence was a big surprise to everyone. Erica was about to spill all the chips in the little glass she had in the left hand over my pained lover. Ivy tensed a bit, and that little movement was enough to send a wave of agony through her entire body, making her form a pained gesture. Jenks jumped from the bed board with a loud curse.

"Bis! What are you doing here? Tink's Tities! Is something wrong with Rachel? The pixie was all over the gargoyle in a split second.

"No, everything is fine, Rachel has awakened and she…" The gargoyle said in a hurry and then he stopped talking, like taking a new breath

"She is on her way!" he said, maybe guessing I didn't want to scare everyone in the room.

"Thank God!" Cynthia sighed quietly, while Mom was coming to the bed, my baby started to cry loudly the moment she felt my presence. Maybe her reaper instincts told her a demon like form was close by. However, Mom wasn't aware yet, and she was concerned by my baby's outburst.

"Look, mom is here, sweetie, mom is here!" My mother cajoled my little witch, trying to hold her so that Tammy could see Ivy. Rez jumped over the bed to say hello to Bis. The door opened suddenly, banging into the wall, and Skimmer came inside. The petit vamp entered sidling on the floor due the strength someone used to throw her. She crashed loudly against the night table on the right hand side of the bed where no one was standing. The piece of furniture collapsed and became a pile of trash and debris under her, and she shouted in pain.

Whilst Skimmer did her best to get on her feet despite the pain, half a dozen undead vampires were coming in. Jenks muttered a curse on Tink's name, unsheathing his sword. The last two vamps closed the door behind them; they were the only women. One was dressed in a black business suit and a light overcoat in the same color. The other one was wearing all leather, her pants, vest, coat and boots with no heel, were all black leather. She looked dangerous and elegant at the same time. God help me but I loved the outfit, I couldn't help but spend a second admiring it! The blond female undead really was a bad girl.

"Crap! It is really crowded in here!" one of the men complained.

"Collateral damage. We have our orders." The woman in the suit said coldly, assessing the situation with one glance. She was utterly confident in their number and their undead condition. She was all business.

At that moment, Skimmer saw my weakened, pained lover. She lifted her weight, using both hands on the safety rail on the bed to get on her feet. Her face showed her astonishment, and her relief for a second.

"Ivy! You're alive! Thank God! I didn't want to… I…" she stuttered. Then she frowned, as she realized that Ivy wasn't even looking at her, the petit blond vamp followed Ivy's gaze to the undead intruders. "What does this mean, Jennifer?" Skimmer exclaimed. Cynthia came to stand behind Mom, she was very afraid; it didn't take a genius to know that the unexpected visitors were, professional killers and undead vamps. Erica had moved to cover for Ivy, but she was very pale. My teen sister in law knew she was no match for a single undead - six of them were a death sentence for all of them!

"Natalie wants the both of you dead twice, Skimmer. It's nothing personal, love. It seems you managed to make her lose her patience at last. News travel fast. Everybody knows by now you stabbed Tamwood in the back. We are going to finish the job. I just can't believe how incompetent you can be when it's not about papers and fucking." The brunette vamp in the suit answered with cold disdain. Skimmer shuddered, just the mention of her old master brought tears to her eyes.

Her old master wanted her dead for good. She had become a liability, a source of shame for her. Skimmer was supposed to be a descendant of one bloodline Natalie had started over a millennium ago. No master vamp would sacrifice his/her own line unless such a descendant was a shame or without a powerful motive. Skimmer had gotten away with murder many times, and now, Natalie was ordering her termination.

Nobody seemed to notice the little marked hand of my baby grabbing the spread wing of Rez. Bis and Rez were both in fierce positions, wings deployed, ready to defend Ivy and my little witch. Then I felt the current of ley line energy running through Tammy's little body. My baby just tapped the nearest line without any effort, and then she amazed me one more time. When she activated one of the transformation curses stored in her marks. Her body shrunk instantly, falling between my mom's arms, slipping amongst the clothing. Despite the bolt of pain, Ivy moved her hand darting out to catch on her palm the cutest black wolf cub I had ever seen. Delicately, Ivy placed our daughter on the bed, trembling due the effort of moving quickly and the waves of crushing pain running through her entire body.

She was just as astonished as everybody else in the room was, including the undead assassins. My baby could barely stand on her four legs. She was too young, even so, she faced the undead vamps with the little ears back and she growled as menacing as she could. The tiny, teeny fangs showing as she curled her lips back to display them, trying to be menacing. She was the cutest thing ever! She wanted to defend her mom and her sis. My heart clenched, figuratively speaking, I was still a mass of invisible gas. _Oh, my God, I'm such a bad example! She was connected with me the last time I wered. She learnt how to were as well! I went into a fight with the focus after I wered and now, Tammy is following my lead, she transformed into the most menacing form she could and is trying to pick a fight with undead assassins!_ I couldn't feel prouder. My baby was not only brave; she was a wonder of nature.

"What in the hell?" One of the male assassins blinked. He was the tallest of them all; he had to be closer to seven feet than six feet tall. With his blond hair neatly gathered in a ponytail, and great classic features, he looked like a basketball star on his way to a fancy dinner. An impression that was reinforced by the dark blue designer suit and the colorful tie he was wearing. The dark blue wool coat matched the suit perfectly and I dreaded to think of how much an outfit like that must have cost. "It seems the little dog wants a piece of us." He took his sword out of the coat, as all of them were doing, they meant business, and killing all of the witnesses wasn't a problem for any of them.

The rest of the undead burst out laughing but one seemed to find it funnier than the rest. His laughter sounding almost cruel and a cold fury began to build inside me. This one was wearing clothes David would like a lot, cowboy style suit, and his coat was black. Looking around at the vamps again, I noticed they seemed to come in pairs. The elegant cowboy was with another cowboy wearing denim from head to toes, and expensive exotic leather boots. The blond male in the suit was with the corpulent undead wearing a tasteful sweater and classic Dockers pants under the long coat, he seemed a bit more casual than the tallest. The two women were the final pair.

"It could be a nice pet." The male in the casual outfit opined. "It's a curiosity at the very least. It's a witch, a baby witch. How?"

"Enough!" I became solid at the side of the still laughing elegant cowboy and I punched him in the face with all my strength. Even I was surprised at the strength of the demon I was borrowing the image from. He went backwards, seeming to hang in thin air for a second, and then reached the wall, where he slid down, taking one of the paintings out of the wall and breaking a chair by falling into it on his way to the floor. I moved rather quickly and I got hold of Skimmer, clenching a big hand on her delicate throat. She barely gasped. She had stabbed my Ivy by the back! I didn't want her close to Ivy for any reason, not when Ivy was so weak! The pretty blond vamp was an unwilling slave to Borgia, and she could take control of her again any moment! At the same time, I knew Skimmer didn't want to do it. I moved, bringing her with me to the corridor, I stayed at the entrance of it. Jenks was about to charge against me with his sword, but Bis shouted at him.

"No, Jenks, the demon is on our side!" the gargoyle said. Jenks stopped in the air, astonished for a split second, but then his attention turned fully on the vamps again. Ivy blinked, I saw her eyes fixing for a second on my hand, and I had the ring with me! The ring matched the one on her finger. I quickly deduced the spiritual energy had protected it, and now I could have it while I was transforming into other species! But I had no time to think on that now! My lover looked at Bis and the male gargoyle smiled apologetically to her. Then Ivy looked at my eyes, and I couldn't help but give a coquettish wink to her. She sent a wave of emotions against me, and I opened a door in my shield of spiritual energy.

"_Hi, babe! I'm sorry, I got too contaminated by the demon and I turned into him the moment I tried to do something to get to your side!" _I said to her mind, I felt her fierce mental embrace and I returned it.

"_Don't get distracted! Tammy is…!"_ she warned me, focusing on the danger.

"_I'm here, now, Ivy! I will deal with them!"_ I promised with my feral reaper part roaring inside, and she seemed to relax a bit. Her eyes glaring with confidence again, but she was worried. There were six of them, and just one of me!

The undead assassins were staring at me with their eyes wide open and faces frozen in shock. Grabbing Dorothy in a painful way, I folded her body backwards, hitting her head on the wall when she tried to punch me and she cried out in pain. I gave the undead assassins a menacing glance, defying them. Then, I imagined a circle protecting all my family ─ Yes, now Erica and Cynthia were part of my family. Even undead Kimberly was. I wished she were here, I had seen her fighting once and she was spectacular with a blade! ─ I covered them all with an energy shield when I energized the circle ordering _Rhombus!_ It covered all of the bed, and a couple of meters around it. Now, they were safe. I covered the door with another circle, to stop the assassins from escaping.

"Oh yes, I'm here to protect Ivy Allison Tamwood!" I announced giving Bis backup on his confidence in me. "If you want a piece of her, you have to go through me first." My smile was sly and baneful. I tossed Dorothy against the wall again, and she fell to the linoleum floor inside the corridor. Curling in on herself, protecting her head with one arm and her stomach with the other. The male vampires were already attacking at me, but demons are very fast, and I went gassy before they could reach me. They backpedaled searching for me, covering their backs, one on another, as they were partners. The cowboys together, the elegant ones together, back to back.

Then I became solid again in the bottom corner of the room, to the right of Ivy. This time I tried to be more me. Instead, I made myself solid with another body. Now, I was very androgynous. My body was skinnier and more muscular than my witchy being. My bones were protruding, some, in a not very attractive way. I looked like Newt when I first met her in the ever after and brought a trip home from her. I had thought it was simply the closest to human that the crazy demon could imagine. But maybe the demons were only playing with the forms, and they were as humanoid as they liked to appear. My eyes were green, but goat like. The sheet I had grabbed when I turned gassy, was still dressing my body like a toga. At least now, I had my own color hair and the right gender. I saw the vampires in guard positions, thinking on the better way of charging against me again, spreading again to attack at me.

"Do you have any idea of the damage you're doing? Making fun of an infant can scar her for life, you piece of undead scum." I claimed to the one I had punched. He came at me, with his sword and I hit him with ley line energy. He lost the sword, bouncing against the corner of the wall, in front of the corridor. He fell on his knees, stunned, beside Dorothy.

The blond petit vamp crawled inside the corridor afraid, away from the grasp of the undead. I went gassy again and I became solid at his back. I grabbed him by the hair, covering us three with another circle, to stop the rest of the undead vamps from interfering me while I was making a point.

"You must cover the baby's eyes, Ivy. This is not going to be pretty." I warned. I felt how she grabbed our baby and covered her eyes as I asked her. My nerves were working at the full reaper mode, despite my demon form. I could feel everyone and their every move around me. Dorothy was trembling; she was under the marble sink, hugging her knees. She had made a sitting curl of herself, barely allowing her eyes to watch how I was having my way with the undead assassin peeking over her knees, trying not to making herself the focus of my attentions.

Meanwhile, I energized my index and middle fingers with the current of the line until little sparks were breaking out of my skin. When I was sure that my baby wasn't watching, I applied those fingertips over the fangs of the assassin. The vamp shrieked, as the current went through his fangs and into his skull. It was frying his brain and nervous system, his body arched from the current, but I didn't lose my grip on his hair. I yanked his fangs out of him. The fangs fell on the linoleum floor with clear clinging sounds, while he was bleeding profusely from the now open spaces on his gums.

"That's defanging a vamp, Dorothy." I spared her a poisoned look. The petit vamp trembled visibly. Her eyes showed horror, as did Erica's eyes while she was covering her mouth with one hand, shaken at the sight of an undead in those pitiful circumstances, afraid and horrified at the same time by the fate of the vamp. Any vamp would feel it. The fangs were a big part of their identity as a race, and the tools they used to feed! Ivy smiled snidely. I was punishing the one mocking our baby, and scaring Skimmer at the same time!

Cynthia hid her face on my mom's shoulder, and Mom hugged her protectively – Mom had her eyes fixed on me, and somehow she figured out my true identity. No demon would care about an infant witch whatsoever! And the way Ivy was looking at me, plus she saw the ring also. She nodded with a hardened expression, approving my actions. Bis was covering Rez eyes, but the little gargoyle was moving, struggling to see what I was doing. Looking back down at the undead vamp on his knees in front of me, I felt nothing but contempt.

"You won't make fun of any baby again, you useless piece of troll crap!" I took his sword from the floor and with one swift horizontal swing of the blade; I behead the stunned vamp. The head hit the near bathroom door, bounced against the circle of ever after and landed in front the body. The body bent slowly and fell over the head, covering it, as the severed arteries of the neck spilled blood all over the place. Dorothy was hyperventilating at this point. She was feeling more afraid than she had ever been.

She tried to go even further against the wall, still on the floor, trying to avoid the blood spreading across the white linoleum. "I have no time to deal with you as you deserve right now, Dorothy Eloise Claymor. So, go to sleep, when you awake, we will have a little talk!" I cast a ley line charm on her making complex moves with my free hand and fingers, and she fell asleep at once.

I wasn't watching the way she crashed to the floor. I was too distracted by what I held in my hand. I ogled the weapon, it was an oriental sword, very good to cut with. It was old, and well preserved, the weight was reassuring in my hand. The guards were a bronze color, looking almost like spun gold, against the jet-black hilt. It was a beautiful sword. I liked it a lot, I wanted to take it for me, and a proverbial clicking inside me happened. At the same time, the sword vanished from my hands, as if it was taking a place inside me. A jolly thought came from the back of my mind. _Spoils of war._ I blinked. _Now am I robbing a corpse? I don't have time for this right now! I still have to finish this and heal my Ivy._

"_Be careful, Rache! There are still five of them!"_ Ivy warned me, worried.

"_I have the speed of the demons and reapers, Ivy! I can do it!" _I smiled a mean smile.

Then I walked through the circle, breaking it and I cast another circle around Dorothy. "She is also mine, fang boys and girls!" I said amused by the very pale faces that were staring at me but they reacted pretty quickly. Ivy and my family were protected within the main circle, Dorothy had her own, and the one in the door made it impossible for the vamps to get out. This was a showdown, and only I could get out standing, for the sake of my lover and my babies, not to mention my Mother and my sisters in law. My savage part inside had taken control of my body once again. And it was roaring free at last; ready to retaliate for the attempt against my Ivy!

The two elegant undead assassins were in front of me in a split second. I went gassy avoiding the blades they had ready to slice me into pieces and they crashed against the circle protecting Skimmer. I became solid again and acting on pure instinct, I sent my arm to the front. My palm crashed against the chest of the tall blond vamp in ponytail. He was closer to me, and his sword was rapidly coming to me. The second I wished for my weapon, I felt a momentary but acute pain along with the clicking sensation inside me. I held just for a second the hilt of the stake; my other hand was already grabbing his wrist, to avoid him reaching me with his sword. But I had to leave the stake deep in his chest, because the corpulent vamp in Dockers was coming quickly. I took the sword of the tall blond undead vamp using it to deflect the blade of his partner.

Barely in time, I felt how his sword went down, screeching against my borrowed blade, as I made the point of the sword to hit the floor. I felt desperate and I wished for another weapon, as I sent my free hand to his chest. Again, I felt pain and for a second I held a reassuring hilt, as I stabbed the heart of the corpulent undead with something very sharp. I let him fall on the floor, my reaper instincts screaming at me to move, responding to the shift in the air pressure behind my back. I went gassy again, while Ivy was warning me.

"_Behind you! Duck_!" I could feel her release_ "Well ok, that's better than ducking!" _she approved my move.

Both undead assassins had fallen face down the floor. The denim cowboy jumped back, seeking the support of the females, as I disappeared in thin air.

The remaining vamps stopped for a second assessing the situation. Three were down, dead for good. I became solid besides one of the lamp tables, beside the couch and watched all of them. The male still standing approached the fallen vamps; they were lying face down on the floor. I felt emotionally numbed. Just as I had on all the prior times I had fought since I awoke from the coma.

"What the hell?" The still standing man, all in denim said, as he used a foot to flip the fallen ones on their backs. There was a stake in the chest of the blond one. The metallic holder was carved with delicate flames. _Crap on toast! _I recognized it. It was the same stake I had used to kill myself with when I cast the spell, trying to save Ivy's soul. The stake itself was a weapon made for professionals. I still remembered the feel of the sharp wooden piece, from the hardest wood known to man, piercing my chest as I gripped the metallic anatomic holder. Claire didn't lie, I wished for my weapons and they appeared.

The other hilt belonged to a knife and it had clear delicate flames carved into it as well. The knife had reached the heart of the vamp in Dockers. It was the same knife I had stabbing my stomach that day, so many months ago. I gasped in surprise when I understood that somehow my body was holding them inside. The carvings were new and they were like a copy of some of my marks_. The marks must be like a property statement: these are mine, no one but I can touch them. Maybe the mumbling of Babylonian gibberish in my sleep wasn't about dreams. I have held those weapons inside me during all this time! They are carved with my marks! They're charmed!_ I realized.

I could see the way they were charmed to work, when the last male cowboy vamp put one hand each of the hilts to remove them from his dead partners. The moment he touched them a blast of elemental fire burst from both ends of my weapons, leaving enormous holes in the chests of the fallen vamps, the hearts, and most of the lungs were now black ashes. The arms of the undead assassin, touching the hilts turned into ashes as well. All the way up to his the elbows the flesh was now just ashes, the sleeves of his jacket though, weren't burnt. But they moved in the air pouring ashes as he screamed in pain, waving his upper arms afraid and in excruciating pain. The whole thing was strange rather than impressive_. _

"_Somehow, I charmed them and charged them with elemental fire. The fire burns anyone touching them, anyone but me"_ I deduced. I was a bit baffled, even when I could see the three vamps dead for good. And one more without arms, too shocked to react. It was incredible! And I hadn't a scratch! I blinked.

"_Incredible, yes, Rache!" _I could hear the mental voice of Ivy, and I felt how she was struggling with our little black cub to avoid her seeing the carnage. _"Go for him, now he can't react!"_ she ordered. I could feel her heart beating hard in her chest, and the pain she still was experiencing. She was right, I had to hurry!

My weapons had fallen to the floor and I went gassy again. I swirled towards them, somehow it felt very natural to me travel in the air like that. I felt the spiritual energy protecting my being while I was doing it. Exactly the way the wolf's spirit protected me through our fight rejecting the were's soul on the focus, the little travel, up to the sky, with the focus familiarized me with that way of flying; it was like an old instinct just kicking in, like riding in bicycle. _Maybe I took too much from the last demon I killed._ I thought to myself – careful to shield it from Ivy I didn't want her worrying about me? I still hadn't time to think about my fear of becoming a demon, but it was there, occupying a little bit of my back thoughts.

I became solid between the corpses. Grabbing the stake and the knife, I staked the still screaming vamp in the heart. I released a little blaze of elemental fire through the charmed stake. His chest became a hole pouring black ashes as he fell to the floor, like a cascade of black dust from a little volcano. An image of the bad girl in leather coming against my back appeared inside my head, courtesy of my beloved vamp, with the urgent order. _"Move!"_

I moved lowering my head just in time, turning on my heels, as the blade of the vamp dressed in black leather passed just above my hair. I punched her in the stomach, her body bent forward. I spun on one foot and kicked her side with the bony heel of my foot. My fighting skills now matched the skills of the warrior demon I had killed earlier. The female vamp was repelled and she crashed against the bubble of ever after I had left covering the door. I glanced at the weapons in my hands, while the other female helped the undead in black leather to stand on her feet. When I thought of putting them away, the clicking sensation came back and the weapons just vanished from my hands. They were again inside me. The two female vamps hesitated.

"Who are you?" the one in a business suit demanded.

"It's a demon!" The one in leather answered her very stressed. I shot a bolt of ley line with each hand, and they crashed painfully into the wall, barely missing the two remaining chairs.

"But the witch is supposed to be dead!" The first said in a whimper, very stunned. "Who sent you?" she asked me, trying to gather herself.

"What's with the blonde?" I demanded, whilst my thumb was pointing at Skimmer, my voice was mine finally.

"She has to die twice too." The one on the dark suit answered me. "Who sent you? Why are you protecting Tamwood?"

I really liked the clothes on the taller bad girl and the size seemed very adequate. A spell came to my head, and the vamp in the leather clothes twitched while she was getting on her feet.

"What the hell?" she rubbed her arms uneasy, as she felt the magic running through her clothing. "We are here on a job. Who sent you?" she demanded frowning.

"That's my question exactly. Who sent you?" I said. There was no answer. The two vamps exchange fearful looks. There were six of them just moments ago, and now there was only two. They couldn't reach any of their targets, and they were facing a lethal demon.

"They are a mix, those two worked in Chicago." Ivy pointed with her eyes to the ones with holes on their chests, the elegant pair of males. "The other two dead guys worked Texas and those two, mostly work in California. They said Natalie sent them, but that's not her style at all. I think DeLavine." Ivy said. Erica had helped her to sit up properly, despite that was hurting her like if she was being stabbed all over. My family and Ivy's sister were watching me slaughtering the killers with their eyes wide open. However, Ivy won't show weakness to an enemy, her life had always depended on it.

"They are professionals. They're not going to answer your questions without several hours of torture, if we're lucky." She warned me. I took a deep breath.

"Is that true?" I looked at the two undead women. They didn't like it. Their faces confirmed in some way the words of my lover by hardening their expressions.

"Well, in that case, I don't have time for that right now." I shrugged my shoulders and sent another charge of ley line current against them.

The charge was much stronger than the first one and both vamps suffered a smashing crash against the wall. I amazed again on the quantity of ley line energy I was capable to manage now, this much would toast at least two strong witches put together. It was far more than the discharge I was able to shoot at Piscary years ago. Their bodies remained stamped on the wall, as the sizzling energy ran through them. They were shaking uncontrollably; the ley line energy was frying their nervous systems just as it had the on the vamp I defanged. I didn't stop the current until I was fairly sure they couldn't cause me any more trouble in a good while. That amount of ley line was enough to kill any living being, but with undead vamps, it only served to knock them out for a while. They fell unconscious to the floor, with the ruined paintings and making the remaining chairs collapse as well. The wall had suffered a fair amount of damage and I was wondering what the likelihood of the hospital charging us for it was when Ivy spoke again.

"Hi, dear heart." Ivy smiled pained. "How did you end up like that?"

"The curse. I tried to be me, but I guess I was too contaminated. I think I can change back now, babe." I took a deep breath and focused a bit, my body rounded, and slowly I became me. "That's better! Demon no more of you for now, go back to your place!" I said almost in mockery, relief flushing away my fear of staying in that dreaded form. I looked at the toga hanging from my body then I snapped my fingers. I grasped a little spell coming to the front of my mind and I activated it. A very good copy of the vamp's outfit spread from the white toga, the fabric shifting into black leather, even the vamp made boots with no heel – appeared on my feet.

"A lot better!" I stretched my arms. "I'm ready to work!" I smiled at her. I went towards my vamp. I moved the safety rail down quickly.

"How are you, babe?" I hugged her tightly. Her arms embraced me weakly. She was in real pain. Our little wolf cub, still in Ivy's lap, licked the hem of my vest.

"Oh, I'm here, baby, mommy is here!" I cajoled her taking her with a hand. I admired her for a second and then I sat beside Ivy. I felt complete at last. This was home! Ivy's embrace was the only place in the world that could make me feel home. I sighed. I was able to hold my baby again! And take care of her, and protect her. I felt her joy and the warmth of her demands, her Mom was in bad shape, and she needed me. I hugged Ivy once again, leaving my little cub on my shoulder, keeping her in place with one hand. _"Let me heal you, love!"_ I asked her mentally

Ivy was scenting me, her face hidden in my neck, feeling my warmth, filling her lungs with my strong redwood smell.

"_I'm here, babe! I'm here and no one is going to hurt us! Let me heal you, stay still, this might hurt a bit in the beginning"_ I mentally connected with her, opening a bigger door in my spiritual shield. I could feel her mental possessive embrace once again.

"_Thanks, my witch! Oh, you are more powerful with every demon you get rid of! That was impressive!"_ she said, trying to be strong, but she still was very strained. _"I thought I had lost you!"_ I felt her anguish once again. My heart clenched.

"_I know, Ivy, I'm so sorry! God! I'm so sorry for your pain and your worries! Damn. Why I always make you suffer like this? I should be alert. I should be more careful! This is my entire fault."_ I said, putting all my love into my effort to heal her. She was slowly relaxing, and her arms were tightening the embrace on me, while she was healing_. "I thought I never will be able to hold you again for a second! I just want to hug you for the rest of my life!" _My arms tightened around her as well, my hand over her wounds, the magic flowing from me and into her.

"_Me too!" _She sighed as the pain was slowly diminishing; her muscles relaxing as she didn't have to contain herself from showing how really badly she was injured. She needed to be strong at the faintest sign of weakness; Rynn and Kimberly would step in and take over her life. I held her closer to me. It was so unfair the way she had to demand and demand of herself in order of having a bit of independence. Being like her required a lot of will and strength, physical and mental. She was the strongest person I had ever known! We didn't want to let go of each other. Anyone could tell. Hot tears spilled from my eyes. I had almost lost her, and that thought was so unbearable!

"_I can't lose you, Ivy! You and our babies are my life! We will make it! Whatever it takes we can do anything if we are together!"_ I hid my face in her neck, as she was doing in mine. I was just glad to be able of holding her. Our unborn baby vamp barely reacted, even when Ivy was gaining some strength. She felt so weak! She was fainting slowly.

_"Oh, my God! Is that Morgan?" _She asked me anguish gaining again the reign on her thoughts, and mine. The transfusion blood wasn't good enough for her. She was used to very high vamp blood, as Ivy's blood was the one running through her veins, and my blood to feed. Concern for our little vamp filled both of us. I felt the tears from Ivy falling into the skin of my neck. I just hugged her tightly, Tammy whined a bit. I caressed her back on my shoulder "I'm here, sweetie. I'm here." I cajoled her. She licked my ear. I was still hugging my lover with one arm, and making the healing process work on her.

"Thank you, dear heart." Ivy murmured. "_For staying all the time with me, I felt you the entire time, holding me. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough…"_ she talked directly on my head.

"_Don't even think that! This is entirely my fault, my love. You are strong enough for both of us and for our babies! We will find the way. No matter how, Morgan is going to make it." _I caressed her belly over the hospital garment. "Are you better, honey?"

"Yes." She sighed. We locked our eyes. I kissed her gently and softly on the lips. She kissed me back. "I still can't believe it." She pulled herself away from me. She stared at Skimmer, with a frown.

"She is cursed, Ivy. So are Paul, and Mike, they don't know. They fell into a state of unconsciousness when they received orders from the one cursing them. Skimmer now knows. She tried to fight her, because she didn't want to stab you. She couldn't win the fight. That's why she didn't lift a finger to defend herself from Erica. You are pregnant and Skimmer didn't want to hurt you even more than you were already by my supposed death and Borgia forced her to go against her nature. I don't think Skimmer is going to forgive herself for the rest of her first life." I sighed tiredly. _I don't like the blond vamp, but she at least tried to resist. Life is funny, now I'm defending Skimmer! _I let our black wolf cub go back on her lap again.

"Mom?" I went to hug her. She hugged me back fiercely. "I'm sorry I scared all of you so badly."

"It wasn't your fault, honey." She cajoled me. Cynthia hugged me as well, by one side. I kissed them both.

The whining of Tammy made all of us turn to the bed. My wolf cub was coming towards me; she was falling and standing up again on her way over the wrinkled sheets.

"Hi, sweetheart!" I kneeled aside the bed to see at her closer. "Oh, baby. You might look like mom; but inside you are like me: all guts and no thoughts, my love." I lifted her, standing again. She whined. I let her intrude in my mind; she was feeling very afraid for Morgan. She begged me without words to help her! I kissed her head. "I know, honey, little sis is very weak, mom needs blood and also Morgan. Would you go with grandma while I feed mom?" I asked her, she nodded with a little bark urging me. I passed her to my mom.

"Tammy is indeed a very gifted baby." Mom said proudly stroking her granddaughter. "The problem might be teach her to change back to witch." She suddenly showed concern staring at me.

I smiled. "No, no problem. She still connects mentally with me; she learns the spells when I'm doing them. I wered in front of her when we were in the woods. Now I only have to connect with her and guide her to be a baby again, mom." I explained sitting on the bed besides Ivy. "Morgan needs to feed, honey, how do you want to do this?" I asked Ivy.

She blushed very lightly. _"In private!" _she said to my head. I chuckled quietly; she was shy, at least in front of Mom.

"Come on babe. I'm your partner, I love you, and you need this now!" I stroked her hair. Ivy sighed. She nuzzled my neck; I bared that side to her. She kissed me before biting my pulse point. I leaned on her body, hugging her, and she hugged me as well, we both focused on our unborn baby. Morgan moved a little bit, and then she stayed still. Normally her response to Ivy drinking my blood was of excitement and content; she should be purring and enjoying herself. However now, she barely moved, and even she felt slightly better for a second, when hope was filling her, now she was unresponsive.

"_Oh, God!"_ Ivy lapped the wounds her fangs left in my neck. _"She is not reacting, Rache!" _she whispered worried inside my head.

"_Damn, I think she still needs that elder strain of vamp virus after all!"_ I clenched my jaws. "_Don't worry, Ivy, we will find a way! You don't have to turn into an elder's Scion."_ I said determined. _"How old is DeLavine?" _I asked her.

"_Like two thousand years old…Wait a minute, Rachel! I don't want to do that!" Ivy protested. "I had enough with Piscary inside my mind!"_ she hissed as she was telling me without words, making her disagreement very clear to me.

Ah, Piscary, surely, he was the big boogieman in my Ivy's life! I saw how her eyes, lost a lot of brown in a split second. But my mind wandered into a far memory, when I was trapped in his lair, when he summoned Al to kill me. I remembered a vase in that room and I began to wonder about that vase. It must have contained the payment. Piscary paid Al's favors with his blood or saliva. My eyes went wide open when I realized that. Al used his virus to transform into vamp. That's why I got absolutely vulnerable. He used an old vamp strain when he bit me!

"Rache?" Ivy took my face between her hands, and she was talking this time. "What's happening, dear heart?" she was worried now.

"Ah, I'm not sure yet! Mom!" I called her. Mom came to my side, concerned as well. Ivy released me for her to hug me.

"Are you feeling weak, sweetie?" she examined my face worried.

"Not at all, Mom. Do you happen to have complexion amulets on you?" I asked her.

"Yes, I was working on them, why do you..." She trailed off, when she saw my eyes checking on the sleeping undead vamps; I had a calculating look upon my face.

"Ah, good idea!" she opened her purse. "I happen to have an Ivy disguise, just as I had a disguise of you, honey, just in case." She smiled as she informed me. That really surprised me.

"So, you put the amulet with my disguise on the corpse?" I turned to see Jenks.

"You bet your witchy ass I did. When I told Alice what happened, and that we had to rob your body, she gave it to me. That's why the robbers didn't come back, Rache. They must still believe they have you." Jenks formed smug mockery on his handsome face, landing on my shoulder.

"Mom, you are so wicked sometimes that you can scare me." I laughed hugging her shoulders.

"Well, honey. You got a lot of me in you." She shrugged her shoulders.

"And I'm glad of that, mom." I kissed her temple. "I should pity Don, but I don't."

"You better not take his side over mine, honey!" she activated the amulet she pulled out her purse. "Well, Ivy is a bit taller, we have to undress her and put a hospital robe on her." She said casually.

"I'm on it." Erica was already lifting the one with the leather outfit, and I went to help her. In less than three minutes, the undead assassin was in the bed, wearing the hospital garment and Ivy had her leather clothes on. A bit short, and too tight in the belly area, but she wasn't wearing it for long.

"Please stay on this side of the room. Bis, give me a hand, please." The gargoyle came to stand on my shoulder again; Jenks was occupying the other shoulder. I took the ankles of two of the corpses. I went to ever after and I tossed them there, then I did the same with the other corpses.

"Where did you take them?" mom asked me.

"It's lunch time for carrion eater demons in ever after. They will take care of the bodies' disposal." I shrugged my shoulders. "But I don't have the heart to feed them with that one." I looked at the still undead and sleeping vamp in the blue suit.

"That one will be helpful. Her name is Jennifer Kilmore, and she was in Natalie's camarilla before her first dead. We have to contact Natalie and let her know what's going on in here. She has been framed, and she will not like it." Ivy said.

"If she still cares for Skimmer, maybe she could agree to give you some blood for saving Morgan." Erica said concerned.

"I don't want to be Natalie's new Scion! And she would never agree to take a new scion without a lot of impossible conditions!" Ivy said energetically.

I blinked twice, returning to my memories and my guesses. My heart increased its pace while hope filled it. My hand took the cell phone in the low table in front of us, before I could consciously think on it. Then I put it down. No. This was too important to treat on the phone.

"What?" Ivy looked at me with a bright lightening her face.

"I maybe have a solution, my love. But I have to talk to Ceri first." I took the phone and I phoned Keasley. I asked him to call Ceri in a hurry. I asked him to fake a bad attack of arthritis. "We don't want Trent to know." I explained to my vamp when I finished the call.

"Good thinking." She smiled slyly.

"What?" my mom asked looking at us suspiciously, and interested.

"I need to consult first, but if it turns out I'm right, then our baby is safe, Mom. Ceri should be in Keasley's place in only 20 minutes. I have to go. But before that, I will take Skimmer and the other vamp to a safe place. We don't want Paul, Mike or any other possible mole to know where Skimmer is. Borgia wants her dead too." I said with a little frown, pensive. "Besides, I put a ley line sleepy charm on her, Borgia can take control of her whenever she wants as far as we know. We can't let her wake, because Borgia will know everything she sees, she is really tainted." I clarified.

"We could put Skimmer in the couch of the office and the other in the garden shed. She is already undead; I don't think she minds the cold." Ivy proposed. "While they are under the sleepy charms effects they are not a threat to anyone." She shrugged her shoulders indifferent.

"Good idea!" I nodded. I was making another call already, with Erica's cell phone. "David! Yes, we're Ok. Are you all OK?" I asked him. He said so. "Good, could you escort Mom and Cyn back into the church? They are going right now; wait for them in the elevator. Thank you, David, for everything! I will see you there soon!"

"But!" Mom wanted to protest.

"I will use the lines to take Ivy, Tammy and Jenks, Mom. The lines aren't so comfy, I want Ivy safe, I know David, Cali and Serena will protect all of you! Go now, hurry. I will see you there in no time. I will stay with Ivy until you all arrive to the church." I went to the door, and let them going out. They practically ran to the elevator.

I went to take Skimmer; I had to drag her over the pond of undead blood. I took the towels from the bathroom to cover her. Then I dragged the undead in the dark suit. I took an ankle of each one and went to the church. I left Skimmer on the kitchen floor. Then I carried on my shoulder the undead and went to the shed to leave her. We had to trash some junk, it was a bit difficult to hide her under the sacks of fertilizer. It took me several minutes. I remained in contact with Ivy though. Apparently no one had noticed what had happened in her room yet. Erica was tiding the room the best she could. But there was no way of hiding the fact there had been a fight in there. I was still piling the fertilizer bags over the sleeping assassin when Rynn, Kimberly and Robert barged inside Ivy's room in a hurry.

"We had reports of undead vamps in the building and Skimmer has gone missing, are you ok?" Robert was saying and Erica ran into her dad's arms burying his head against his chest. Looking around the vamps assessed the level of damage to the room even with the bodies gone it was clear there had been one hell of a fight. Kimberly locked the door behind them.

"What the turn has gone on here, Ivy?" Rynn demanded.

Between both of them, Jenks and Ivy explained everything that had happened. It was clear though that he wasn't happy with their explanation and didn't fully believe them. In fairness he was right not to, they had told him I had hired a demon to protect Ivy and he had dealt with the assassins.

_"Has she sold her soul to save you this time?" he asked curious, but he seemed unconcerned about it._

_"No, she didn't, she has some experience dealing with them. I still don't know what kind of deal she made. But she wouldn't be so fresh if her soul were in the hands of a demon, believe me, I know her and how she behaves when her soul is on the line. She is a mother defending her babies' right to have a normal life and defending me too. She is willing to take risks to protect us but she knows she needs her soul." Ivy let out a tiny smile, she was surer than ever of me and my feelings for her. _

_"Now she is not afraid of using what she has had all along. I know she hates hurting people and dealing with demons. She will feel guilty, but that's a guilt we both will carry together". She sighed. My baby witch began to whine and cry, demanding attention. There was a little pause. Tammy was still on her Mom's lap and she began to cuddle our baby. "Hi, love. I'm sorry we scared you. But everything is going to be just fine. Mommy is coming back soon." She cajoled her._

_"And the idea she has to save the baby?" Rynn asked interested._

_"I haven't heard it yet either, Rynn. But when her eyes glare like a moment ago, it only means she has something." Ivy sighed. "Rachel has this thing with false hopes; she doesn't like to tell you anything until she is reasonably sure. And our bond, as strong as it is, allows us to hide some things from the other. It is different from normal Scion bonding. It's more equal. Not one sided. But I know she will find a way.__ In the midtime, Natalie has to know what is happening here, but a direct contact would make her suspicious of your real intentions, she always suspects on other master vamps. I have been thinking and I believe the best way is indirect. Just give her something to be curious about. I know she cares for Skimmer, more than she would say aloud; she always let her do whatever she wants. You have to send some guys to Hubert's joint, there are always informers of Natalie hanging out there. __Send Paul; he is very trusty, but a bit naïve. And Maurice. Maurice is smart. Give them the public version of my stabbing, to comment between them. That way Borgia cannot suspect we already know she can control Paul and Mike. In front of them nothing important until this is over." Ivy said pensively, as if she was calculating a number of scenarios in her mind at the time she was speaking._

_"Good choices, exactly those two I had in mind, and the same reasons. Really Ivy, you are talented, you are the right choice for succession, Piscary was right." Rynn nodded pleased._

_"I hope you will be around for the longest time possible, Rynn, I just want to raise my kids, and to have a life with them and Rache." She said passing an arm behind my waist. "Natalie will know less than ten minutes later. If she is interested on Skimmer, then she will contact you. If she contacts you, well, you tell her Skimmer is well treated, and you are waiting for me to awake for deciding what to do with her. Check if there is any footage from the security cameras."_

_"There is. I had it since the very minute you entered the surgery room. If Natalie contacts me, I will send her a copy." Rynn planned quickly._

"_.By all we know, Borgia can see and hear all things Skimmer witnesses. We cannot let her wake __up; Rachel put a ley line sleepy charm on her. In Holy ground no undead vamp or demon can enter, so she must be safe in the church. And Jennifer is there already too, Rachel took them, we didn't want to risk any possible mole to know what happened here yet. You can prepare a secure location for them, but we cannot be sure if Paul and Mike are the only unwilling moles in your camarilla, Rynn. Rache had to use her second sight near everyone to check them out and know they are safe to trust on." she warned him earnestly, surely, even if she was tired, she was being clever, logic and firm. No way they would dared to step on her._

"_That I have to know, I can arrange that all the ones I have close to do rounds in the church, so she can examine everyone" he said with a little frown, a pensive one__. Surely, he looked handsome when he was imitating human expressions._

"_Good idea!" Ivy nodded. "On the other hand, Jennifer said openly that Natalie sent her to kill twice Skimmer and me. She can be very useful dealing with Natalie. But something tells me, Natalie wasn't the one who hired them, but Borgia. Borgia is the only one interested in get rid of Natalie and you, what better way to start a war between you two than killing the crown jewels of both camarillas in suspicious circumstances?" Ivy faced him and her mother. "Both Skimmer and I are the last of our lines, and our lines are over the millennium old. No Master vamp would forgive an assassination like that."_

I returned from the church. It had taken a bit of effort hiding the vamp in the shed. We really needed to have a clear out of all the junk. The atmosphere in Ivy's room was much tenser than when I left. My baby barked at me as soon she saw me. I arrived next to Ivy; she was still on the couch. I had helped heal her but she was still exhausted. Tammy was very aware and resumed her playfully chewing on Ivy's index finger. I sat down next to them and Bis flew off to sit next to Rez on the bed's headboard. I faced the master vamp.

"Hi, they are in the church already." I said before turning to Ivy and my black cub. "It took me too much time; we have to go, honey. I don't want anybody can see me or you until you are better. And Morgan is safe." I caressed her shoulder softly. She leaned on me.

"Hi, sweetie." I caressed the little furry body on her lap, with the tip of my index finger. Tammy bit it. "Aha, now you're hungry, ah?" I lifted her "Mom can't feed you like this, little one. You have to change back to baby witch before eating."

My little cub whined. "Yes, it's fun being a wolf, I know, love. We can do it together when you have grown a bit." I offered her. "Honey, you're too small, you can't play offensive while you are this small. You still have no fangs, or teeth. You have to play defense. You have to do a circle, I will teach you." I said locking my eyes with hers. She growled. I smiled. "Oh, baby! You are like me, no doubt. The moment someone tells you can't do something you want to do it!" I reprehended her softly. "C'mon, focus, Tammy, you have to change again. Now, Tammy, time to turn into baby witch. You're hungry, love." Tammy locked her big blue eyes on mine. She was so aware. Big tears filled the striking innocent eyes, and my heart clenched.

My baby witch sent me a wave of feelings and sensations. Tammy and Morgan still shared a bond too. She knew her sister was in bad shape and she was suffering for her. "I know, love. Little sis doesn't feel well. I have to go and find a way to make her feel better." I said softly. She seemed to nod. "And before I go, you have to turn back into witch, that way, mom will give you milk, Alright? I can't go until I know you will be fine too. Now, focus…" I asked her, placing her on my arm, on her back. She changed for me, growing into my beautiful baby.

"That's it, love!" I kissed her forehead and she grabbed my fingers with both hands. "You are a little genius, honey!" I kissed her hands too.

At that point, I noticed, the marks over all her little body were gone. I looked at my hand; it also was clean. I closed my eyes and used my second sight quickly. Yes, I could notice the spiritual energy cloaking them, in Tammy and in myself. My little witch had learned something else from me, while I wasn't even aware yet of the fact. This could be useful! Now the demons wouldn't know at first sight that we were reapers.

"And she has to get dressed before she catches a cold." Ivy took her from my arm. Erica brought her the clothes. Ivy dressed her up quickly. "The marks… are gone, Rache!" she pointed out the obvious, concerned.

"Yes, mine too. I guess turning into other species erased them, love."

"Thank Heaven!" Kimberly said.

"You can say that again! It looked awful in a newborn!" Jenks backed her up. "It looked awful on you too, Rache. I hope you don't have to wear them again in a good while."

"That will depend on the schedule of the pack. I have to wear them on some occasions, Jenks. I'm the alpha bitch of my pack, it is my duty, although, they aren't official yet, maybe I can convince the girls not to wear them, and David has to do what majority says." I said pensive "Well, we have to go now." I said to Ivy. "I will leave you in the church, on Holy ground and then I will go to Keasley to wait for Ceri. As soon I know if it can work, I will go home again, honey." I said to Ivy.

"And exactly what are you going to do to save Morgan, Rachel?" Rynn asked me with very convincing interest.

"I have no time to explain now, Rynn. But you know I love Ivy and our daughters more than my own life, and I would never do anything to harm them!" I answered him. "I have to consult first. I'm not sure yet. But believe me, I will find a way to save our baby vamp!"

"I know you will!" My vamp was already lifting from the couch our fully dressed Tammy. "We have to go in a way no one can see us, that way everybody will think Blanche is me, especially if you leave a guard for her, Rynn. We will be at home. Let everybody thinks she is dead for now, we need some days to deal with this. We need time to make a chance for Morgan."

"Well, I will be visiting you tomorrow, to collect Miss Claymor and Miss Kilmore." Rynn nodded, he wasn't pleased. "I'll make the arrangements to clean this place up; nobody will know what happened except the ones in here."

"We will be there!" Ivy nodded, wrapping Tammy in a small blanket. I had taken my scarf from the kitchen. Jenks came to tuck himself in it.

"Rez, Bis?" I asked getting in my feet. The both gargoyles flied to stand in my shoulders. Ivy hugged me by the waist. "Ready, honey?"

"As ready as I'll ever be for this." She nodded. "I will explain everything, Mom, now, we have no time."

"Go." She nodded, she wasn't pleased either.

I arrived in our bedroom. Ivy sat on the bed, lying Tammy on her back. Our baby was giggling; she didn't seem to have a bad ride. Jenks was already shouting for Matalina. Rez and Bis jumped to the floor.

"I will go to Keasley's now, honey." I announced. "Jenks, Bis, you are in charge of guarding them, David will be here in no time with the girls and Mom."

"Don't worry, Rache, nobody passes us!" the pixie said proudly.

"Be careful, Rache." Ivy grabbed my hand; I turned to see her, bending a bit to be face to face.

"I will, I love you, Ivy." I brushed her lips with mine lightly.

"I love you too."


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

As always, I want to thank the ones still reading the story.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you again to Natasha who took a look at this for me, and showed me I can write sex scenes. I am grateful as ever for your priceless bits of advice.

CHAPTER 21

I left Ivy in our bedroom and used the lines to travel to Keasley's, I couldn't risk anyone seeing me across the street. Maybe I was paranoid. But we needed time to save Morgan and I was meant to be dead, by corpse stolen by vampires. I couldn't afford another attack just now. Morgan's life was at stake now. I arrived in Keasley's back garden and he let me in. Less than 5 minutes later Quen was parking at the front. Ceri got out of the car in a hurry and Keasley opened the front door for her. I could see one of Trent's limos outside by the reflex on a mirror in the hall. Keasley was already getting ready to sleep, and he had a robe over winter warm pajamas, with Scottish design slippers. Ceri was wearing a tasteful and expensive fur coat. Her face held a haunted expression. My neighbor closed the door after her. The wind was chilly and light snow were still falling, dressing the street on white.

"I'm very sorry I cannot stay long, Keasley, I want to go to the hospital too, I heard Ivy is very badly injured and Rach…" she trailed off when she saw me, she had been crying. "Rachel? God!" She hugged me tightly, moved, a small sob escaped her. "They said you died!" she murmured collecting herself, but her embrace tightened around me. I hugged her back. I knew Ceri on some level loved me, as a little sister, as her savior, I prevented Al from killing her after he returned to her the soul he had taken. Smutty as it was, it allowed her to feel again. Now, she was having a life she had already forfeited centuries ago. She had a son, and an honorable elf who loved her.

"Yes, a demon cursed me to seem dead, Ceri. That curse was able to fool even all the medical equipment and an entire medical crew in the ER. I'm sorry; I hurt so many people by being careless." I explained to her and Keasley as well, the old IS ex-agent was watching us from two steps away. "Thankfully, Claire helped me to lift the curse. I'm sorry I had to make Keasley lie to you; but this is confidential, and too important to treat by phone. I only have two questions Ceri. Did Al obtain his vamp virus from Piscary?" I was too anguished myself to be delicate with my friend just now. Ceri was a practical woman, and she couldn't take it the wrong way. She let me go and stared at me, worried once again.

"Yes, the last hundred years. He liked a lot Piscary's virus because he was old. That made his bites as vamp much more real and effective." She answered. "Is Ivy ok? I heard she was attacked." She said concerned.

"She is not well, Ceri. That's why I need to know. I have the remains of Al's reserves, and Ivy needs an old strain of vamp virus to recover and for our baby vamp to survive." I explained. "But that would mean she had to be the Scion for an elder vamp. She'd rather die before that happens. "I sighed. "I can't lose her, and our baby, Ceri. I think I maybe could use the virus from Al's reserves if it was an old strain."

"Oh, I see. You need to vamp in order for the virus to function the way you want, Rachel. I made the curse for Al hundreds of times, I remember it. Do you have a piece of paper, Keasley?" Ceri felt happy to be able to help me, and Ivy.

"Yes." The old witch put a notebook and a pen on the table.

Ceri wrote down some notes and the ingredients quickly, while she explained to me the way of doing it. It was clear she was worried, deep lines marred her normally smooth forehead and she kept biting her lip.

"It's a very complex potion and…maybe I should tell Quen to leave and…" the beautiful blond elf looked at me uneasily.

"And then Trent would know. Thank you, Ceri. I think Claire has everything. You have to meet Claire, as soon as this situation gets better. You will like her. She is really good, I would say at least as good as you with magic." I said. "I hope this works. My baby vamp is too weak. She has to receive reinforcement soon or." I trailed off, I didn't want even to think about that possibility. Ceri hugged me once again and I hugged her back far more enthusiastically than I ever had before, I felt grateful for the comfort.

"I know I would do anything to save my baby as well. How's Tammy?"

"Tammy is a marvel, Ceri. She looks just like Ivy. She's beautiful! You can come anytime you want to meet her! I know it's difficult, and dangerous. I'm a target. She will be as well, because of me." I said depressed, pressing my forehead on her hair.

"You will find a way; you have resources that no other witch has, Rache!" She cajoled me. "I have to go, or Quen will be knocking in a minute. I won't say anything about you, but Trent has many sources, he will find out very soon."

"I know I only need some time, at least one or two days, to save my baby, and ensure Ivy's health, Thank you, Ceri. I owe you big time for this one!" I hugged her. She left in a hurry. I hugged Keasley too. I was grateful to both of them. I used one of the demon healing curses on him, to ease his arthritis pain; at least he could sleep well tonight.

Then, I used the lines again, this time to get into Claire's mansion. Shar jumped from the window outside when she saw me in the spell kitchen. She went to call the old witch. Claire and Renata came in wearing comfortable clothes. They had been waiting for me.

"Rachel!" Claire hugged me. The warm scent of redwood emanating from her soothed me. It certainly seemed my day to be hugged but then I supposed if ever there was a day when I need to be hugged, it was today. "Have you captured the vamp?"

I explained quickly the change of plan. She glanced at the demonic curse Ceri wrote for me.

"Are you aware that you don't need this anymore?" she asked me.

"Pardon me?" I asked her a bit confused.

"You have the curses from the demons in storage, inside you, kiddo. You only need the activation invocations, and the termination invocations. And even without those, you can transform into anything only by wishing it once you had the curse at least once. At least two of the demons you have fought were loaded with transformation curses. You wanted to do something in the hospital, and you changed into demon, Rachel. Because that's the last form you had magical contact with. It is very dangerous what you intend to do. You can lose control and kill Ivy. Ivy needs the blood from an undead vamp and you have the virus. So you have to transform into an undead vamp. But elemental magic, kiddo, has effects on everything. The virus you took from that demon, it has changed into its most primal form, the most virulent form, Ivy will suffer changes, and your baby too, furthermore, she needs a lot of blood to recover, maybe at least two full measures of the totality of blood an undead vamp can give. And if you are incapable of restraining yourself and you lose control over the bloodlust you will feel, then you could kill them both." She wasn't amused anymore. She was talking to me very seriously.

"And if I chain myself?" I asked.

"That could work. I have already charmed some chains to hold the strength from an undead vamp, as you asked me to do." Claire nodded pensive.

"And I need to prepare some healing potions. That can replenish my blood even as undead." I said, thinking quickly.

"Yes. Do you know the recipe?" She gave me a smart ass look.

"No, but it will come to me the moment I lost myself in here." I shrugged my shoulders, gesturing with my arms around.

"Ah! You're learning, kiddo. Just do it. I will tell you if it is working." She retired into a corner with a smile. Renata hugged her by the shoulders.

I took a mug and I closed my eyes. I just wished to save my lover and my child. The next thing I knew I was sat on the floor and Renata was shaking me by one shoulder, the nausea was receding.

"Are you alright, Rache?" she asked.

"Yes, it's itching, so it must be ok." I scratched my shoulders and my thighs over the leather clothes.

"You made around seven or eigth doses, not two. That means Ivy is much worse than I thought. I will put the shackles and chains on the strongest bed I have. It's in the basement. Ivy just had a major operation and she deserves some comfort. Go and fetch her, kiddo." Claire hurried me.

Thanking them I jumped back into the lines, I wasn't sure I had ever used them so much in one day before. I arrived in our bedroom just as Mom was entering with a bottle of warm chamomile tea. Erica and Cynthia were in the bed, with Ivy, by her sides, while she was feeding Tammy; she hadn't changed out of the ill fitting clothes stolen for the undead vamp assassin yet.

"Rache! We just arrived. Did you find the answer?" Mom asked me. "David and the girls are checking the place out for any sign of disturbance. Jenks is ranting behind him, his family is here and they can't miss anything." She said pleasantly.

"David is an obsessive man sometimes. Hi, Rache. I didn't want to be at home right now, Mom is in a bad mood, she didn't like Rynn's decision." The teen vamp said seriously.

"Rynn was all for keeping Ivy, and letting Morgan to die." Erica frowned, she at last had understood the warnings and advices Ivy had been feeding her. Not to trust the Master vamps blindly. "Dad was very disappointed on him, but his hands and Mom's hands are tied. They cannot go against Rynn openly, not with this war going on. Mom wanted to contact Natalie and ask her to save the Tamwood line, in exchange for Skimmer. Rynn said no way!" Erica shook her head "I thought he supported us for real! And at the slight sign of losing Ivy he turned into…" Erica trailed off.

"He turned into a master vamp, Rica. He only supports his own projects and interests, the same way all master vamps do. I'm grateful for this one, though. Mom would never go against her Master; her morals forbid her to do so. Even if that means she loses her line." Ivy said quietly. "I know Rachel can do something, Morgan is part of our destiny, and we won't lose her, Rica." Ivy kissed her hair comforting.

"Dad is also trusting in you, Rache. Did you find a way to save my niece?" Erica looked at me with a haunted expression, one that didn't belong on her face. Tammy freed Ivy's nipple, and Cynthia took her standing up to burp her, while Ivy was arranging her borrowed clothes, covering her breast again.

"Yes. I have to take your sister with me, now." I went to Ivy's free side and sat on the bed next to her. Reaching out, I ran my hands through her hair. "You have the hair wet, honey." I noticed while I was kissing her cheek.

"I checked on the shed, nobody saw me."

"You got out in the snow without?... Ok, first thing beginning of spring is cleaning the shed. I barely could walk in there with Jennifer!" I decided not telling her off, she was a vamp, and the cold didn't affect her as much as me. Tammy was beginning to shout to get my attention.

"Hi, sweetheart, I'm back." I let her take my hand between both of hers. I'm very sorry, Tammy. You have to take formula again. This might take the entire night. Would you take care of Tammy, Mom?" I carried our baby witch from my sister in law's arms.

"But of course, sweetheart! I like to be close to my granddaughter!" she came closer too, tempting my little witch with the bottle, weaving it a bit in front of her.

"Mom and little sis will be ok when we come back. Would you behave and not cry while we are out?" I reached for my little witch's mind, giving to her a wave of warmth reassurance. She saw at me attentively, and an energetic "da!" was my answer.

"That's my baby witch!" I kissed her, but I could feel her request, she wanted me to give her the bottle; that was a very clear idea. "Fine, I will give you your bottle, and then you will be good to grandma and with your aunts, ok?" she seemed to nod at me again. Sometimes I wonder if she really knew what I was telling her, or if I was sending my ideas and that's the way she could understand. Either way, her blue eyes were astonishingly clever. I sat beside Ivy and took the bottle from my mother.

"Here it comes, honey." Her heart shaped mouth took the rubber nipple and she sighed before pulling the tea. I kissed her once more on the forehead, I couldn't avoid it. She was my little miracle, I loved that bundle of small clothes with all my soul! "Rez, I promised your mom I would take you back…" I started to say to the little gargoyle, standing on the headboard.

"But I want to stay, Miss Morgan. Tammy is sad, I want to cheer her up." She cut me up pleading.

"Ok, there is no time for arguing right now; we will talk when we return." I decided. She nodded, knowing I wouldn't take her against her will.

"Hi, can we come in?" Serena's voice said from the door, which mom had left slightly ajar.

"Sure." Ivy said, she was very private, and she didn't like her scent mixed with any other than mine, but we were living especial circumstances, and they were only doing their best to help us. The door opened and my pack was there, all the three of them.

"Hi, Rache. We heard you saying you have to go for the night with Ivy." David started.

"Yes, I think we will be back by morning if everything goes right." I nodded. "I have to ask you to keep an eye on Mom, Cyn, Erica and this restless baby in the meanwhile, guys." I said whilst blushing a bit. I really wasn't used to asking for help yet.

"Of course we will be here, don't worry about them, Rache." Cali nodded. "Serena and I already cleaned that blond vamp in the other shower, she was covered in blood, her clothes are ruined. And our pajamas are too big for her."

"Oh, I think some of mine could fit her." Cynthia rushed out of the bedroom; the weres parting to let her pass.

"I know you don't trust Skimmer, Rica. I don't either, but while she is under the charm she is no danger to anyone. She will be on the couch in the office until Rynn comes to collect her." Ivy said firmly. "We need her unharmed."

"Ok, V." Erica frowned. "I just can't believe how stupid I have been until now!" she retorted bitterly.

"We all wanted you to have a normal life, Rica. I'm sorry we can't keep the illusion a bit longer." Ivy hugged her shoulders.

"Thanks, guys." I looked at my pack. "For everything. I know it must be really odd to steal a body from the morgue. I..:" my gaze met David's eyes.

"You weren't dead! It's the least we could do, don't mention it, Rachel." He smiled. "I don't have a clue how you put up with all the things happening to you. I don't want to know how that girl ended up covered in undead blood, but to defend a baby, I would go all the way as well. You did fine, and we will be here to help you in every way we can. We're a pack." He smiled warmly hugging the shoulders of the girls. "You do what you must to save the baby, we will be here, watching the place and the family."

"Well said, David." Serena agreed. My baby was watching them as well, while she sucked the rubber nipple of her bottle. She was pretty aware of everything going on around her at all times. She finished her bottle.

"Thank you. I think we will back in the morning. Go with grandma, honey." I kissed my baby once more before putting her in my mom's arms Mom kissed me in the cheek with a smile, a confident smile, like if she knew whatever I was planning it was the right choice and would give the right results.

Nobody asked for explanations about where I was taking her or what my plan was, they trusted me to be able to save Ivy and Morgan. I looked at Ivy and she nodded at me, before coming to hug me by the waist. Holding her tight, I sent us through the lines once more. We appeared in Claire's spelling kitchen. Renata was there, she was wearing jeans and a sweater, just like earlier, waiting for us. Ivy took a moment to recover from the sickening sensation of the line travel.

"Hi, girls. Are you ok, Ivy?" she seemed worried.

"I will be. I don't know how they get used to feeling like someone is pulling your guts through your throat while you're in a wind tunnel." She leaned on me. I shrugged one shoulder seeing the curious expression on Rena.

"Claire is preparing things, I'll take you there." The young were guided us into the basement, to one of the bedrooms I didn't see last time. The room was at the end of a corridor, it was huge, and beautifully furnished, a very elegant bedroom indeed. But it was a curious sight, seeing the old reaper hanging in the air, her feet planted on the ground and the body very inclined as she leaned back, tugging with both hands on a metal shackle. The bed of course wasn't moving, it was made of iron, even the poles, or maybe another heavy metal. She was testing them. Ivy blinked astonished.

"Ah, Claire, they're here, I… need to check on the office. Excuse me." Renata was red to the neck, and she fled in the very style David did running far away from any sex implications in a chat. Claire chuckled amused, and straighten up. She looked at Ivy and my vamp seemed to guess what she was doing.

"What does this mean, Rache?" Ivy blushed a bit.

"Well love, the chains are charmed and they're for me. See, Al had the vamp virus from Piscary himself and he used it to make his bites real. Although to pass the virus to you, I have to vamp. I mean I have to become an undead vamp, just as I turned into a demon. But we don't know if I can control myself. So, I have to be restrained while you take my blood. You've just had major surgery, and Claire thought you needed to be comfortable while you have the only treatment recommended." I said to her. – I was so conflicted, and I could feel my face burning, I was asking Ivy to tie me up and bleed me. I shifted uncomfortably, knowing Ivy could smell my embarrassment and excitement. God, how could I be excited at a time like this? I wasn't doing this to spice up our love life – not that it needed it – I was doing it to save our baby. It had me staring at the floor as Claire took over explaining.

"Don't worry about the sheets, they are charmed too, the blood won't stain them. No one will be near and the room is soundproof. Rachel has never had pheromones before. She doesn't know how to control the abilities of an undead vamp, Ivy. If anything goes wrong here, there is a splat gun with sleepy charms, you shoot her, ok?" she pointed the night table.

"Wait a second!" Ivy said controlling her surprise and her own embarrassment. "Undead vamp? Are you losing your soul?" she stared at me, shocked.

"No, Rachel's soul cannot leave her body, Ivy. She is not dying to do this. Her soul will be with her, cloaked by the magic, but she can let it out if she learns how, I don't think that will be a problem, she loves you so much, and her soul will want to be near you."

"And the chains, are they silver?"

"No." Claire laughed amused. "They are steel, reinforced by some charms, making them near to indestructible. They were planned to contain an elder undead vamp, the original plan was to kidnap an elder undead vamp and serve him or her to you in a silver platter. But then, Rachel found out she had an elder virus strain already stored in her. This can work, if she doesn't hurt you. She will be like a child with the strength of an elder, she has no notions of how to control all the abilities and capabilities of an undead vamp, this is all precautionary measures, so pay attention. The bed is very strong. I don't think it will break; but in the case it does, you take the splat gun and shoot her." Claire returned to the business.

"How much blood do I need to take, I know I need enough to make me scion of a normal undead but will Rachel be able to take that kind of blood loss if she's not really undead? I won't drain her dry." Ivy's voice was soft but determined.

"You have to drain her, she took healing potions and she will replenish the blood at least twice. Morgan needs, at the very least, that much blood to recover. Don't worry, she can replenish the blood more if you need it, you won't drain her dry just give her a chance to invoke the spell." The old reaper explained to her earnestly. Ivy looked completely astonished and suddenly I worried how Ivy felt about biting me, I hadn't even asked her! _Did she find the idea of an undead me repulsive? _I wondered to myself.

"If Rachel loses control the chains should be enough to contain her. However, if as she said, the virus she has is from a master vamp at least 6 thousand years old, she will be very strong, and you cannot overpower her. Use the splat gun at the slightest sign of danger. I know blood lust frequently comes with sex lust. But try not to tease her much, she must be in control or this could end very badly." The cook instructed her sternly. "Now, I'll leave you alone. If there are any problems, use the phone. If you dial 11 Rena is going to answer, and 12 is my extension. I strongly recommend dialing me, Rena is a bit shy." She said shaking her head.

"The keys?" Ivy asked awkwardly, there was something in the soft tone of her voice that made me stop examining the carpet and look at her. Ivy's body was hunched and she was looking at the floor just as I had. My stomach sank, she didn't want to do this, but we had to!

"There's just one. I put it in the drawer of the night table. Don't set her free until she changes back, Ivy!" Claire recommended earnestly once more. Claire gave us one last worried look and wished us luck before leaving the room. Taking a deep breath and before I could think about it anymore I began to undress. There was no time for my doubts or shyness. If I had to convince Ivy, I would.

"Rache?" Ivy sounded doubtful, and I tried not to feel hurt that she didn't think this was a good idea, but this was all I had.

"I'm going to vamp and share blood with you. I'll need clean clothes to wear later, love. Ah." I realized when I copied the vamps clothes; I had copied everything, including her matching lingerie. It was tiny and very suggestive in black lace. _What's with vamps and sex? Why do all of the ones I've met dress like this?_ Maybe it was a good thing, perhaps it would help convince Ivy. I went to the bed, feeling a bit odd, I had been making love with Ivy for months now, but not even once had I had this kind of lingerie on. _We skipped the sexy conquest, and anyway that had never been my style_. I thought to myself. _Anyway, she knows me naked, and she likes my body, I shouldn't feel inadequate now._ I dismissed the thoughts I just had to go with it. Action not thinking was what I was good at.

"I'm ready and you have to tie me up, babe." I said to her. Against my will, I blushed a bit, as I lay down on my back and looked at her. Ivy blushed too and I saw her eyes for the first time, they were deepest darkest black. My heart raced as her eyes, filled with love and lust, raked over me. _Ah, she is not rejecting the idea! _I felt a lot better and more confident when slowly, she stalked towards me. Despite the trauma her body had undergone, and was still suffering from, my Ivy was pure liquid grace. She was my own perfect predator. By the time she reached the bed, I was shivering, aching to feel her hands on me, to smell her hair. I reached out to pull her down next to me and I felt slightly startled when she moved my hands upwards, shackling me, my arms stretched between the bed posts.

"I'm sorry the metal's so cold." Claire had spelled the chains to hold an undead, not to be comfortable, something I was grateful for. The cold felt shocking against my hot needy skin and it pulled me back from the fog of love and reminded me I had to concentrate on Ivy and Morgan.

"Don't worry about it, love, it feels nice." I blushed realizing how that would sound. But turn take it, I was suddenly wondering if Claire would mind, if I stole the bed and chains, Ivy had a glint in her eyes I had never seen before.

"Oh, dear heart. This is so awkward, but it's exciting too. You are a tease!" she accused me, both, amusement and desire evident in her voice. However, I could feel she was having doubts as well, but not nearly as many as I was. I tried to think of the words to say to reassure her, but soft, sweet lips pressed against my right knee, and for a second I lost the ability to think. The final cold shackle locked around my ankle, and was completely at Ivy's mercy. Our eyes met and I knew then and there, that I would do anything for her. If Ivy had to drain me dry so that she and Morgan could survive, I wouldn't just let her do it, I would happily beg her to do it.

Ivy ran her eyes all over me, with a peculiar expression on her face, on one part, she was excited, and in the other, baffled. "Not even a flinch, I just tied you up, and you are totally vulnerable, almost naked, with a vamp well known for lacking control when it comes to blood lust, and you don't even hesitate! You're amazing, dear heart!" She sat by my side, and caressed my ribcage with a hand. "You trust me much more than I deserve, Rachel." Her fingers pads passed lightly over my jaw, as she stared at me with awed reverence, and fear. Ivy was having doubts on her ability to control her bloodlust! It had nothing to do with me, but with her own issues and weaknesses.

"I love you, Ivy!" my voice was a warmth whisper. She smiled at me and I accepted her lips brushing mine, I kissed her back reassuringly, tenderly. She sighed against my mouth.

"You need to get naked, as well love. I'm going to try and transform into a vamp now." I took a deep breath trying to focus and not screwing this up. Ivy nodded and her hand stopped caressing my side, to give me room. Nevertheless, she didn't move, staying besides me and staring intently. That didn't help because I just wanted to stare back at her, but I needed to focus on the transformation, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them I saw her differently, I saw everything differently. The world was so bright, so colorful, and the smells! Her scent was just so rich. I could even smell the antiseptic, the hospital soap, and the snow which had melted on her hair when she checked in the shed. But the wood ashes and incense, and the so unique, intoxicating pure essence of her skin was the most inciting of all, it was so her, so sexy.

Ivy was even more nervous. Her hand reached out tentatively, the barest tips of her fingers brushing my stomach. The touch was electric and I arched my back up trying to press myself against those fingers. It seemed even my sense of touch was amplified. I was sure, as I looked up at her as she moved her hand back, that my eyes must be as black as hers. Ivy's breath caught as she met my gaze and for a few moments, we stayed there simply staring at each other.

"Ivy." My voice was my own, but it sounded deeper, more paused, and huskier than I intended. She shivered as if I had caressed her and her scent changed. My body knew what it was and my own arousal became a burning flame, even as my mind finally caught up, telling me I was smelling Ivy's desire for me. An overwhelming sense of possessiveness nested in my mind and chest, seeing my vamp. Mine!

"Get naked, love. Now, Ivy." It sounded like an order, and a lover's plea at the same time. For possibly the first time in my life, I sounded seductive! She obeyed slowly, her coat falling down to the floor, her hands reaching for the top of the zip of the vest dragging it down, and I tried not to drool as I caught sight of the top of her beautiful breasts. She suddenly stopped her hands trembling and started to cover herself back up. My earlier doubts about Ivy finding me attractive as an undead came back to me. Had I been wrong about her scent being arousal? Then I saw fear on her face, and I remembered our first night together as a couple, when we hadn't been together even once yet. She had been filled with doubts, because she didn't think herself attractive anymore. Not everything was about me, now she was seeing me as vamp, and I saw the way vamps – in particular Dorothy freaking Claymore- reacted to her pregnancy.

"Ivy, I love you, and you are beautiful. You are having my baby, your body is a marvel, and you will drive me insane if you don't let me feel your skin against mine right now." I said with a smile and an urgent tone. She blinked twice, flabbergasted for a second, staring at my mouth mesmerized.

"You have long fangs, dear." She sat beside me, leaning her upper body over me, getting closer to see them, seemingly fascinated. Her hand reached for my mouth. I let her touch my lips, and I shivered when her fingertip probed the point of my long left canine. _These damn things are like extra erogenous zones!_ I began to salivate and my core began to throb with desire. Unable to touch her with my hands I gently wrapped my lips around the finger still resting on my canine. Carefully, I sucked and nipped the finger trying to show my desire for her. Her eyes closed, a barely audible moan slipping from her. Reluctantly I stopped, I wanted to taste more of Ivy, to see more of Ivy and I had to give up my prize in order to get that.

"Lose the clothes, Ivy, and bite me." I growled low. She unzipped her vest quickly, tossing it back without caring where it went. It landed over an armchair near the fake window made from ley line energy. She was not wearing any undergarments, and she looked glorious. Not for the first time I wondered how it could have taken me so long to admit I loved her. Ivy was more aroused than I had ever seen her before. If she still had doubts, I couldn't tell. Her eyes were shining black, her nipples stiff and begging for attention, and my new olfactory sense told me she was ready and wet for me. I could feel the vibration in her body, and hear her heart stammering, rushing its pace, in a good way, I felt my own arousal growing. Then, the way her throat began to vibrate, with a matching growl, God I kept growling quietly, and I didn't even noticed until she answered it.

"Oh, God, your pheromones!" she hissed low. Even with my new undead senses, I didn't see Ivy move. Suddenly, she was leaning over me, kissing me fully on the mouth. Once again, she was the predator as she began invading me with her tongue. Ivy's hands were still struggling with her pants and I growled into her mouth in frustration. I wanted her naked and her hands on me _now. _Ivy shivered in response. Ivy liked my growl. The small part of my brain still capable of rational thought filed that knowledge away for future use. The rest of me was just unbelievably smug about it and I growled again. There was a ripping sound and then a light thud as the abused material hit the big screen TV on the opposite wall. She didn't stop kissing me the whole time, her tongue and mine struggling for dominance.

Ivy's triumph over her clothes seemed to fuel that struggle even more and the tip of her tongue ran the entire length of my right fang. I moaned uncontrollably, feeling the wave of lust striking every last cell in my body. That was disturbingly sexy! Now I could understand why she lost it every time I did that to her. I kissed her back passionately, noticing that I really was producing pheromones. Ivy was beginning to release some now and I could tell the difference between them. Her inciting pheromones bathed me and my desire became impossible to ignore. She was mine, I was going to grab her, roll us over and claim her every way I could. My body reacted to my instinct and need for my lover. But the chains tensed when I tried to reach for her. My mouth broke away from hers as I nearly snarled with anger, she was mine! Pulling forward hard I felt the sharp annoying tug on my wrists as the metal edges dug into my skin. The haze in my mind cleared a little and I remembered suddenly the reason we were doing this.

"Ivy, God, Ivy… bite me, before I can't control myself, love!" I begged to her. Everything inside me was still snarling and demanding that I had to claim her. My arms and legs were stretched to the max by the chains, and the bed posts groaned slightly as my body tried desperately to hold her against me, or at the very least touch her.

"Yes." The word was a hiss, Ivy's face bright and alive. Then, all I could see was the ebony curtain of her hair. I pulled the smell of Ivy deep inside me as her sharp teeth sliced into my neck. My body bucked with the pleasure and rightness of it and I wanted her to bite me harder. At last, Morgan reacted. A weak hopeful whining, that brought me back to my senses, like an ice cold shower.

"Ivy, hurry, Morgan's so weak!" I whispered. Ivy pulled my blood inside her lustily, greedily, taking possession of me, and my soul. I just wanted to feel her as always, and she sighed when she saw through my eyes our auras, mine was hidden inside me, but now with my blood flowing into her, our bond became active, my aura came out bright and powerful, golden as a burning sun. Our auras started to merge and I could hear her thoughts. _"Oh, my dear, you taste different like this! It's not better, your blood as witch is much richer and tastier, but like this, this is like…" _She began to hide her thoughts from me and I pushed to know.

"Like what?" I asked with my voice, feeling the hungry hasty pulls on my neck.

"_It's like a very strong vamp taste. Undead vamp with a hint of redwood."_ She answered me hesitantly_. "I can feel the effects, undead blood is very powerful, and you have one of the most powerful bloods I had ever tasted, Rache." _She confessed me. And I could read what she wasn't saying, my heart filled with jealousy, she had been in bed with more than 6 powerful undead vamps. DeLavine was one, and I knew perfectly the way she acted after being with him. Then I felt fully the territoriality sense of a vamp, crushing my guts with murderous desire, I wanted to kill every lover she ever had before! I wished to erase every fucking memory in her! I wanted to be the only one on her mind and I sent an overwhelming wave of mental possessiveness. I felt her shivering. _"I'm yours by choice, Rachel, I love you!"_ she answered me, biting my neck harder, her mind trying to envelope mine, trying to dominate me into submission. But I still felt that desire to kidnap her and keep her only for me. Her hands ran over my body, tearing the lingerie off, trying to distract me from my mental claims on her.

"Mine!" I growled, not nearly satisfied by her rushed answer, I hadn't felt so jealous before and my snarling need to claim her rushed back. My arms were fighting with the chains. The icy metal edges biting my flesh, lines of blood ran down my forearms as I tore my skin, struggling with the damn chains. I didn't care. I didn't feel any pain, I just wanted to take her, to shake her, to fuck her until no one else could be in her mind! My struggle seemed to arouse Ivy even more. She bit and bit harder each time. She was losing control as mouthfuls of my blood were going down her throat, whilst I was struggling to free my arms, the bed groaning in protest but still holding.

I would have continued pulling with all my strength, but then I felt the hope, the ghostly greeting, brushing lightly against my mind. My baby, our baby moved at last. The nourishment from the blood and the new virus had reached Morgan. I froze knowing she was so weak! Fear for her filled my heart, pushing away my jealously and my arms went limp. I focused on Morgan and Ivy slowed down, feeling my mood changing suddenly.

"_What is it, Rachel?"_ she asked inside my head, and I shared with her my finding. _"God!" _I could feel the guilt and worry fighting for dominance inside her. "_How could I let my desire rule me, I thought I had better control now – I'm a terrible mother."_

"_Don't be silly love, you are an excellent mother. I lost it far more than you did. Now's not the time for self-recrimination. Morgan needs us." _I let her feel my love for her and my desire to reassure her even as I spoke aloud.

"Drink quicker! She needs blood!" I panted, wishing I could stroke her head. Ivy complied, focusing on our baby as much as I was. We were both using Morgan to ground us, to stop us from becoming lost to our natural desire for each other and the vamp instincts. Soon, I felt very weak and pained, Ivy was drinking without making time for her saliva to shift the pain into pleasure, I kept rushing her, I didn't care about the pain. All I wanted at that point was a sign from our baby, that she was feeling better. Ivy had doubts and second thoughts. But she obeyed me, because she was as afraid for our daughter as I was.

"_Rachel, I'm killing you and Morgan is still too weak!" _Ivy pointed out after several minutes, and some very bad bites on my neck. The blood was diminishing and she having to pull harder and harder to obtain it.

"Stop a moment, I will replenish my blood, and you can take another measure like this one!" I said physically exhausted, my voice sounding like in a whimpered puff. Ivy nodded and her mouth left my neck. I could see the horror plastered upon her face when she saw the bites she had given me. A flash of a shredded neck passed through my mind, it was an echo from her mind and her pain when she felt mine for a second struck me. She was devastated about what she had done.

_"Don't think like that, Ivy! You wanted go slow, but we have no time! This is what it takes, babe, Morgan needs the blood quickly. Don't think, just bite me again when I say so, don't take time to sooth the wounds and the pain, is bearable. Morgan is more important than me or you right now. We need to save our baby, honey."_ I cajoled her in my thoughts. I didn't want to waste energy talking. She nodded hardening her facial expression. We both remained focus on Morgan while I activated the healing potion, my neck healed. _"Now, bite me again!"_

I could feel her sigh against my pulse point before I felt her teeth tearing the skin. Her hands held me, one by the waist and the other in the middle of my bare back. After 4 or 5 hard pulls, we could feel the new excitement in our baby. Morgan first felt heat, as the new strain of vamp virus began to take over her little body still in development. A few mouthfuls more of blood and she began purring, that gave us hope, both Ivy and me.

"Don't stop, babe, don't stop, she is reacting at last!" I sighed relieved. I felt tears from Ivy falling onto my neck. But she didn't stop sucking all the blood she could, I heard her sob when she bit me deeper again looking for more, she hated hurting me, and this time she was very aware, I tried to avoided flinching at every deeper bite, I didn't wanted her to feel bad, this was my idea!

Two or three more pulls and Morgan began to move violently. Our baby vamp got over stimulated, as her small body became the focus of the two strains of vamp viruses struggle. It didn't last long, as the doctors said, the older one was capable of overwhelming and overtaking the one debilitated by the transfusions. Our minds were mingled as well. I could feel her guilt every time her fangs tore more flesh and skin. I just kept telling her it was all right, we were doing this for Morgan. _"Our baby deserves to live, my love. I know you're hurting more than me with every bite, but you don't have to feel that way!"_ I cajoled her.

"_I will compensate you for this, my witch!"_ She promised me_. "Oh, God, what is that?"_ I felt a pull inside me, and I knew the feeling was really Ivy's and not mine. She focused a bit away from me, but I followed her, the blood was a powerful link, and she couldn't hide the pain she felt when she recognized that Morgan was draining her as well, the same way she was draining me. She herself began to feel weak, as if our baby were taking too much from her blood and strength. The Malone incident came to her mind, an undead baby inside a living vamp mother, and panic washed through her mind like a cold waterfall.

"God, it's too late! Morgan is… is… undead already, she's feeding from me!" Her thought hit me like a Mack truck. I focused, digging into the deepest part of my mind for my second sight again. Ivy had stopped pulling and held still. Her hands were holding me fiercely. Her body had tensed.

"_Thank God this reaper thing allows me do magic as other species!"_ I thought relieved as I saw the bright soul inside her, I sent the image to Ivy, our auras heavily mixed by now, and the one inside her. _"Don't be afraid, Ivy. Don't think about that, I won't let it happen. I can replenish plenty more times, you can take as much as both of you need!"_ I murmured reassuring and comforting _"I just wish I could hold you to me, you're trembling, my love."_ I moved my face against her hair. _"Calm down, babe, our baby is fine. Morgan is not undead; she is as special as Tammy is. Keep drinking, my beloved, you will both be fine!"_ I said confident. _"I can see her soul as clearly as I see yours and mine mingled around us." _Ivy slowly relaxed, taking some moments to asses my affirmations, and examine the images I could see clearly, once again her body fitting onto mine, as the tension went off her.

"_Yes! You're right! I can feel her too! Thanks, my little witch!" _Ivy sighed relieved as well.

"Now, keep drinking, my love, you both need the blood." I felt her sigh before Ivy sucked harder the blood from my vein she was more relaxed now and no more tears fell on my neck. It took me a little while to feel I was too weak and there was less pain this time; Ivy was being much more careful than the first hasty time.

"Rache, I think you really need to heal again, I tried to be gentler, but I took a bit more this time." She said to me, blood staining her chin and part of her cheeks.

"Ok, give me a sec." I closed my eyes, while she was stroking my cheek and my shoulder. I could feel she was getting weaker. Morgan still was moving hard, and taking all she could from her. This was so hard on her and I worried she might become too weak to bite me. She had been stabbed, operated on and now she not only had two strains of vamp virus fighting for control of her body, she also had our daughter moving hard, damaging parts of her only just healed and draining Ivy of her blood. If she lost consciousness, would both of them die here on top of me while I screamed unable to get free? Fear had me trying to force the healing potion to work faster.

"Ready, babe… you can bite me again. You're weakening, take more until Morgan stops draining you, you cannot get weak; for the sake of both of you; not to mention the sake of Tammy and selfish me!" I urged her with a faked giggle trying to hide my worry. Ivy nodded with a chuckle and bit me. She took her time, forcing herself to be aware of me, and Morgan. She didn't want to hurt me and was using her feelings to stop herself from losing control as her need for blood burned inside her. Our baby had a frantic dance inside her womb. Her hands caressed my waist and sides, feeling the warmth of my body, "I love you, Ivy Allison Tamwood!" I whispered.

"_I love you, Rachel Mariana Morgan, so much it hurts!" _she deepened the bite on my neck. We both focused on our baby vamp, until she seemed to get exhausted. Her giggles were angelic music to us. She greeted us, she let us know she was feeling great and tired, very sated as well, she loved us. By the time Ivy was lapping the new bites in my neck, Morgan fell asleep. Ivy was feeling weak, but satisfied with herself, she had controlled her blood lust like never before. Our baby was out of danger, closed in a bubble of joy, Ivy recognized the slumber in our baby, it was the virus acting, making her stronger. As if she was in a cocoon that would keep her safe till like a butterfly, she emerged a strong healthy baby vamp in four months time.

"We did it! Our baby is safe!" she murmured against my ear. Her embrace warmed my body and I wished fiercely that I could hold her once again.

"Yes, and you are too weak, my vamp. I will replenish again, you need blood as well." I said concerned. Ivy wiped her face with the silk sheet so she could look at me with a clean face. She had missed a few spots and merely streaked it across her face in others but the sight didn't bother me in fact I felt strangely happy she was marked with my blood.

"It's ok, Rache. I will be fine.

"No, you can have the benefit too, and I can replenish two or three more times, my love. I want you to be strong, and the quickest way for you to regain your strength is drinking blood. Please, bite me again. I want you to take my blood I love you, Ivy, please let me give this to you." I stared into her eyes. She sighed. She wanted to say no, but she saw my determination.

"I love you too, dear heart." She kissed me deeply. That was a mistake, she still tasted of blood, and the feel of that blood in my mouth with Ivy's tongue twining with mine unleashed my vamp instincts all over again. I could feel the change in Ivy's smell; the scent of her arousal was once more thick in the air. I couldn't help myself and I bit her lower lip, the taste was so incredible! Ivy moaned, letting me suck her lip. Her nipples hardened against my chest. Her hands stroked my body sensuously, but hard, she was possessive, staking her claim on me, her nails digging into my flesh. But with the strength of a vamp, that wasn't painful but enticing. The fact she was marking me, proclaiming that I was hers just made it all the more arousing. She pulled herself away from me, I saw her eyes entirely black, as mine were already from the moment I tasted her blood. Her hand grabbed my chin and moved me forcefully to bare my neck, with a passionate growl she bit me fiercely, her chest vibrating against mine, as I growled back to her. It seemed to urge her to act. Really, Ivy, liked the basic feeling of a vamp, and a growl it was a feral way of stating passion, hunger, rage, the only difference was the tone of the growling, and ours were incredibly sexy.

My vamp was all dominant now, her hands claiming every inch of my skin, kneading, pinching, tugging and my own arousal grew with every stroke. I wanted to taste her again, I moved, making it uncomfortable for her to suck my neck, she hissed at me, ordering me to stay still without words. I loved it, my Ivy wanted me so much! But I was filled with the need to dominate her back to prove I was the stronger one, that I was her protector, but above all that she was mine. My arms and legs were again struggling against the chains restraining my movement. I wanted to touch her the same way she was doing to me. Ivy's teeth were deep in my neck feeling like little spikes of pleasure, she dug deeper and the pleasure was sharp and pure. I writhed beneath her; she shifted trying to keep her grip and growled more aggressively, my flesh still between her teeth. Her shoulder was in front of me now and I lunged forward managing to strain just far enough to sink my teeth in.

Ivy gulped a mouthful of blood, and held still a moment, letting me break her skin and taste her blood once again. I saw her black eyes smiling at me, her face all smeared with my blood, and that only sent a painful whiplash of desire through my core, I felt her arousal going higher. I moaned at the same time she did, her body rubbing against mine, grinding mine into the mattress. She lowered her head and I felt the bite on my chest, just over my right nipple, a bolt of desire ran through my entire nervous system. Even now, my instinct was to protect Ivy. I lost her shoulder when she moved my teeth retracting from the wound as soon as she began to move rather than risk tearing her shoulder. But now, she was out of my reach and frustration made me hiss.

"You're mine, dear heart. Whatever form you wear, whatever you do, you are mine. I love you too much to be without you again." The words were murmured against my bleeding nipple, her breathe causing little pluses of pleasure to come from the torn flesh. I wanted to say something to tell her I felt the same, but I was struggling to hold to on.

I felt her digits getting inside me, moving with skill and strength, I was so aroused I shouted her name, bucking against her hand, while she was biting the inside of my left breast, she reached a good artery, it hurt, but the pain faded almost immediately, giving place to pleasure. At some point, she lost it. She lost control and Ivy bit and bit me, my chest, my neck, my arms, while she sent me to heaven over and over again. When she slid over me and she bit in my groin, still moving her fingers inside me, I came again, so hard I lost consciousness for a moment or so. She lapped the last bite. I was barely panting, she had taken a lot of blood. Ivy was panting hard.

"Rachel?" she called me, moving to look at my face. I was far away, but I heard her fear, her fear made me alert and conscious. I had to focus on replenishing, closing my eyes, while she left me on the bed. I felt my strength coming back. "Oh God!" she moved quickly. I opened my eyes when I felt my right arm falling into the soft mattress; Ivy was opening the shackles around my ankles. I lifted both arms and looked at my hands; she had released me! I blinked. "Oh God, Oh God, what have I done?" she was very afraid. She gasped when she saw me sitting up. "Rachel! Are you ok, dear heart? Did I hurt you too much?" she asked me anguished. She moved at vamp speed to hug me tightly, her hands running over me as she worked to convince herself I was alive.

"You shouldn't have released me, babe." My voice was husky and I felt strange. I found her concern and fear amusing, had I not shown her I was strong and able to give her what she needed? I hugged her back drinking in the smell and feel of her. Ivy's eyes locked onto mine, and she shivered when she saw the desire burning inside my dilated pupils. She tried to pin me to the mattress, I could read her futile thought to chain me again. I moved fast and hard and Ivy was the one pinned to the mattress, with me straddling her hips.

"Not this time, my sweet lover, this time, you're mine!" I nuzzled her neck; the smell of fear was as enticing as her harsh caresses had been before. She tried to fight me, good, this was good I would show her I was stronger and then she would be mine. I applied more strength to contain her under me. "You're so sweet!" my tongue slid along her neck. She shivered, yes she was mine now and she knew it.

"Rachel?" she called me. "Are you going to bite me?" she asked controlling her voice. "Without asking first?" she pushed a bit, trying to remind me of the rules. Remembering that Claire had warned her, I was a child with no control on vamp instincts.

"I will, because you're mine! No one else can touch you, Ivy! You are mine! I want you to know, no one else is allowed to be in your head, only me!" I released a blast of pheromones and wrapped myself tightly around her mind.

"Rache, I'm pregnant, we could endanger Morgan if you take too much blood from me. I'm willing, I want you to claim me, as only vamps can claim, I'm yours." she whispered, moving her cheek against my hair. "But if you take too much, Morgan could die this time!" she warned me clearly. Her admission that she was mine soothed me, just as her rubbing herself against my hair did. She was covering herself in my scent so others would know she was mine.

"Our baby will be fine, Ivy. I promise!" I kissed her skin, along her jaw to see her eyes. "I love you! I want you so badly!" Just the sight of her mouth, still tainted with my blood made me moan and I took her lips in a fierce kiss. She parted them willingly for me to enter.

_"I love you, Rachel, and I know you won't hurt me, you're so much better than I am!"_ The mental whisper, reassuring was too much. I let her breath and I sighed. That was another mistake, her pheromones and mine where still lingering in the room. And it was the most intoxicating, sexy, heady mix. I bit Ivy's neck, it was too near to my mouth, acting purely on the instincts of the vamp body I had now. Now I didn't need to worry for Morgan, she was fine! I was really driven out of myself. Big problem, Ivy was also mad with lust, and me biting her, actually taking blood from her, just pushed her over the edge of reason, she gave in to the lust for sex and blood. My hands were all over her, claiming her to me! As my mouth was claiming her blood. Claiming! To claim her I needed to be slow. No matter how delicious her blood was! The back of my mind warned me.

Ivy embraced me, trusting. She needed physical release too. She rubbed her entire body against mine letting me drink her blood, her hands were all over me again, enticing and encouraging my moves. It was a very powerful drive to the highest point of lust and excitement. Now I could understand how difficult was for Ivy to contain her bloodlust. In addition, the pheromones did not help to self-control, not in the slightest. She was murmuring the wildest naughty things. I just needed to touch her, kiss her, just fuck her! I wanted to touch her so badly, my fangs slid out her flesh when she moved. She was trying to get a position in which she could fight me back for dominance. We smiled to each other. I let her fight, proud and turned on that she was fighting me. I wanted to prove I was stronger, wanted to show she had made a good choice in picking me as her mate.

I was actually stronger, she fought me for dominance, and she lost miserably. But being dominated was something she enjoyed and I found I was more than happy to oblige her. It was wild. Mind blowing. The bond between us was wide open, and so strong, I felt as if she was a part of me. I was sure it was because she was taking my blood, as I was taking hers. We could feel each other entirely. The enhanced senses, the smell, the sight, the hearing, I could tell every little change in her mood, I could hear every little touch on our skin, the delicious way the sheets sounded moving under us, the moans, the growls, the passionate hisses. I could sense her through my skin.

The strength, that was a tough one to master, I almost broke her neck and her limbs several times, because she didn't stop fighting me for dominance. The mental bonding was the key. The moment she felt the pain overcome the pleasure in her mind; that quickly became my cue to slow down. I wanted to give her everything I normally couldn't. Remembering the 'dating' guide she had given me years ago and I had reread often. I tried to act out some of the kinky stuff portrayed on Rynn's book. I wasn't sure I got everything I tried to do right but I was grateful that Ivy didn't try to correct me or tell what to do. I nearly ruined the entire effort by almost draining her, while I was giving in to the instincts I was unfamiliar with. I just wanted to take all of her, to erase anyone before me, and make sure she could never think of anyone after me!

Ivy really enjoyed it! I lost count of the times she screamed my name. Ivy liked it rough. Her master during her formative years had been a sadist and he had molded Ivy to his desires. I rebelled against that fact. I took almost too much, and I found myself performing a healing and replenishing spell on her before she fainted.

"I'm sorry, I lost it, babe! Bite me, Ivy; take some blood to recover faster!" I asked her while I was promising to myself that I would make amends and not to be as reckless, my hands on her waist held her steady above me.

My hands ran reverently over her skin, she was so precious, so perfect. I couldn't live without her, I would do anything for her and I needed to make sure she knew that. In the beginning, she was a bit bewildered when I stopped the violence, and from savage sex, I changed to passionate love making. She teased me beyond my just found self-control three or four times, but then I learned an important thing. Piscary had left her hurting. As much as someone taking her blood pleased her, it also hurt her. The bastard had hurt her far more badly than she wanted anyone to know. But I knew. I knew the cure too. She gave it away against her wishes.

"I'm sorry, dear heart, it's only I don't want another old vamp claiming me. The pain helps me to fight back, to avoid them for taking control of me." She explained, her face turned away from me, cheeks burning with shame. I wished I could kill Piscary, that I could kill everyone who had put that look on her face.

"Show me how to claim you, my dear vamp. I'm no vamp but I can claim you with this virus, in a way no one can affect you anymore! Give yourself to me! I will always love you!" I asked of her, caressing her hips, she was on top of me at the moment.

"Ok, pay attention, inside your head dear heart, I will try to teach you how to claim me correctly." she closed her eyes. The knowledge seemed to flow into the back of my mind and I felt as if I had always known what I needed to do. Flipping us over so that I was on top, I followed her instructions, telling her again that I loved her before I bit her.

I knew I could do it, I had felt a clicking when I wished so much to claim her, as if a space just for Ivy had unlocked inside me, the desire the will to take the other as a part of yourself played a vital role in taking a scion. This way Ivy would be mine for the rest of my life! No one else could affect her! Then I began to claim her, the way she had claimed me and I did it! It took me the entire fourth time I replenished my blood to gain the control. But I could do it!

Ivy was feeling weak, and we rested and focused for a moment. Morgan still seemed to be asleep. I healed her one more time and she sighed against my chest.

"Are you better, Ivy?" I caressed her ebony hair.

"Yes, thanks, dear. I'm ashamed though, you have learnt control in a couple of hours!" she said, her hand stroking my thigh.

"And I still have one more healing potion, my love. You can drink again, only to be sure Morgan won't suffer because of my claiming you. The bonding takes too much blood for you to be strong right now, so don't tell me you're fine. I love you so much, I knew I could claim you without hurting you because you're the reason I live for. I know you gave me too much of you once again, but you taught me how to control the blood lust, only by seeing you protecting Morgan. Come on, babe, drink again." I offered. She giggled quietly.

"You know you're the best ever?" she asked me. I felt reassured and although I hadn't thought it possible, I loved her even more at that moment. Slowly, while we were making love tenderly, Ivy drained me again. And I bit her too, in all the places I had bitten her before but I didn't draw any blood, I was only pumping saliva filled with neurotoxins into her. While I was biting the sexy places it was harder to resist the urge to pull in her blood. But I reminded myself every time I was doing it because I loved her and she heard it every single time.

Ivy's heart was melted and moved, I could feel the pain from the years of abuse being slowly replaced by pleasure, an artificial pleasure due to the neurotransmitters but pleasure at last. Adding to that the pleasure of being claimed for the only one she loved, and one that loved her to the point of any sacrifice. Someone that would rather die before hurting her or betraying her. However, she also felt ashamed, because only in matter of hours I was capable of leashing the instincts of a vamp. I cajoled her; she was in a very different and difficult path during her initiation. Piscary was a twisted old sadist, looking only for his own amusement. I was in love with her. I loved her so much, beyond myself. And she loved me back! That last time was torture, but it was the best for me, and for her. Because she also gained a lot of control, repeating the same mantra I said to myself. "_I'm doing it because I love you, dear heart."_

I learned to produce relaxing, calming pheromones, and I started to use them against her. Ivy finally succumbed to the viruses' struggling inside her body and fell asleep. However, I remained latched on her neck, fighting the urge to drink her blood. I was pumping saliva in. The properties of the vamp saliva healing wounds, and claiming property of the one bitten were well known for me. Ivy had taught me some in the months we were living as a couple and sharing blood. It was a long night, a daring night, for both of us. I learned to control the pheromones in matter of hours, and the bloodlust too, I loved her too much to hurt her.

When she finally went to sleep, I persisted biting my Ivy. I was weak, but I bit her some more claiming her for me. I had to be sure that she would be mine and that I got enough neurotoxin in her to make sure no one could take her from me. After a while I just was too weak to do even that. Then I changed back into my witchy self. I saw my ring was still protected and I sighed. I was exhausted due to the emotions and the lack of sleep. My body had completely recovered. I had not a single mark. As always occurred when I changed back to witch from other species. That was a shame. Those were bites worthy to brag about. I looked at Ivy.

She had a lot of bite marks on her. Most bites were healing rapidly, and no blood was pouring from them. So my saliva had a very healing effect. But they were very obvious. Damn, I bit her in almost every available vein. Even the ones too obvious. I passed a finger over her thigh. No way was I letting Claire see her like this. I could hear the old witch's telling off in my mind already. I dressed and wrapped Ivy in the bloody sheet. I dialed on the phone the number of Rena, trusting she was a bit more like David and she wouldn't come to investigate, unlike Claire. I said thanks and that we had to leave, I needed to check on Tammy.

I arrived in the nursery, because I focused on my little witch to do the travel through the lines. The sun was up. Maybe it was nearly 10 in the morning. Mom almost jumped off the sofa- bed.

"Rache?" her eyes were tired, but she opened them wide at the sight of us. Well, I couldn't blame her. The sheet was very bloody. "Oh my God! What happened?" she was at my side and so was Cali in the blink of an eye.

"Only the necessary for saving Morgan, mom. How's Tammy doing?"

"She was very restless the first couple of hours, but after that she slept like a little angel."

"Ok, that's good, I need bathe Ivy, mom. She won't wake up for some time. When Tammy wakes up, please bring her. She has to eat, even if Ivy is asleep." The door opened and Erica was there, with her hair disarrayed and eyes showing she hadn't slept a wink. She hadn't slept even two hours.

"Oh my God!" she was examining Ivy before I could say a word. "She has been bitten, Rachel!" she said a bit alarmed. I blushed. She didn't know, and I didn't want to say it in front of mom, or Cali. This kind of thing the vamps could understand, witches and weres couldn't. Furthermore, Erica bit her tongue before let out the next obvious thing. Ivy had sex recently too. With a vamp. Erica was growing; she knew that saying that in front of my mom would only bring Ivy down in her eyes.

"Well, it was necessary, Erica. I have to bathe her." I said and I went out. Erica followed me, with a frown. Even inside the private bathroom. She was bathing her big sister before I could figure out how to get rid of the leather clothes with magic, to have them just in case I needed them. The young vamp saw the multiple new scars healing all over her body. Worst part was, she could smell even better the sex session Ivy just had. She blushed when she saw me entering the bathroom.

"I can do this, Rache. You don't have to." She said pretending to be stoic, but there was pain, worry and shame in her eyes. "It must be difficult for you." She bit the words off seeming to stop herself before she said anything else.

"Non sense. I love your sister, Erica. It has been a long night, you can go to sleep." I put some herbs in the bathtub filled with hot water. "Everything is going to be fine. Your mom's line still has an heir to come." She clenched her jaws and refused to leave. The young vamp didn't say another word, even though she tried to, but every time she opened her mouth and looked at me trying to ask something I blushed and I averted my gaze to Ivy.

Erica helped me. We put complete winter pajamas on Ivy, covering all the uncomfortable bites from the eyes of my family. I was very ashamed. I lost control in a very dangerous way. Ivy was pregnant. Pregnant vamps normally lose the blood lust precisely for that reason. She could lose the baby due to blood loss. The only reason she didn't was the quantity and quality of blood she had drank before I bit her. Her body was already working on the natural replenishing due to that. Erica looked at me with anger at some points, _Oh, God, she knows! _I blushed heavily when I thought she already guessed what happened. Her look almost made me feel like a pervert for the way I ravished her sister. _Nevertheless, Ivy teased me beyond all my control more than once. She wanted it as badly as I did at that moment._ I blushed even more, and the young vamp blushed intensely too. Erica went out the bedroom, when mom came in with Tammy, my baby was utterly hungry.

I managed to lift Ivy, using my own body spooning hers to support her in a sitting position, and I unbuttoned the pajama coat just the necessary to place Tammy in the right breast. Our baby witch ate calmly, almost gently, like she knew her mom was a bit sore. Then I put Ivy on her back, I covered her and I changed my baby's diaper for the first time, after giving her the bottle of tea mom made in the kitchen, and making her burp. Tammy stared at me content, sated, and peaceful. Afterwards she made a humongous tantrum when mom tried to take her away. She simply refused to leave my arms. I ended up asleep with my baby witch on my chest. _Luckily I am plain enough to be a comfortable bed._ I thought amused when she fell asleep just moments before I did.

Erica was there, sitting on the carpet when Tammy woke me up, by pulling my hair. She was hungry again. I made again the spooning thing with Ivy to feed our baby witch. Tammy was gentle again. And again she refused to leave with mom. Erica wanted to tell me something, but she couldn't, because Mom and Cyn came. Then I fell asleep again, I was too tired. It had been rough few days since the challenge. I haven't been sleeping more than few hours since that day and with the fight I had with Ivy, even the couple of days before that, it seemed a lot more than a few days.

Tammy woke up only three times. The third time, she agreed to leave the room with Cynthia, about 8 at night, she wanted to play. I fell asleep again. Until the sensuous nibbling of wet, warm lips and cold teeth on my neck woke me up. I heard the purring voice.

"Hi, dear heart!" Ivy was very sated. She wasn't looking for an encore. She just was playful and grateful, and she felt a lot better. She wasn't at her 100 percent already, but she was almost fine. The virus had worked in her body all these hours, and they weren't much, I glanced at the clock on my night table, it was 10:30 at night. So, barely 12 hours, and Ivy was feeling hungry and content, I could sense that much through our bound.

"Hi, sexy." I groaned sleepily. "How do you feel, love?" I asked after clearing my throat.

"Just grrreat, my little witch." She purred again, against my earlobe. My vamp left a little chain of playful kisses down to my collarbone. "I'm really hungry and the pizza smells heavenly, your mom makes a superb pizza. You can go back to sleep, love." She brushed my lips with hers and she got out bed, going to the bathroom to take a shower. I heard the water running and I decided to get up. I could catch up on my sleep later. I had to talk to her and letting Ivy know I couldn't talk to her sister to explain how she end up all bitten. Somehow doing it together sounded better to me, even though it would turn embarrassing at some point for both of us. I just hung a night robe over my pajamas, and put my feet into the bunny slippers mom had bought for me a while ago.

I was barely walking, almost dragging a foot after the other. I was still exhausted. I needed coffee. As soon I passed the archway and put a foot inside the kitchen I had a very strong hand closing forcefully at my throat, and I was off the floor, my feet no longer supporting me. I felt the hard impact against the wall in the back of my head, and my entire back. I didn't lose the air in my lungs because the hand was suffocating me. Actually, that hand was cutting all passage of air in or out my lungs. On top of that, the pain due to the impact made my arms and legs useless limbs without any strength hanging from my torso.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I am setting this after WWBC. I am adding some characters of my own. Well, now we begin to prepare the way in making friends and allies, not a topic I'm very good at, but I will do my best. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so, you have been warned.

To the ones still on board: thanks for your patience.

Natasha went through this correcting the mess and giving me as always, good advices and invaluable insights, thank you, girl.

CHAPTER 22

Kimberly Tamwood was really pissed off at me, and I knew it in the bad way. I saw her piercing eyes, blacker than sin, right in front of me, and her long fangs showing in anger barely an inch from my face. The pain of hitting the wall, had struck me totally unprepared, my arms and legs were useless limbs hanging from my torso. My brain was bouncing inside my skull and I couldn't breathe in or out. Her strong hand clutching my neck was the only thing keeping me at her face height.

"How dare you?" it was a hissed demand so angry I could see some spit coming to me. "Who's the master vamp you took Ivy to? How dare you skip the chain of command?" She spoke very quickly. I just could see her lips, barely moving, leaving her long curve fangs exposed even more menacingly.

I was incapable of processing everything she had said, with my brains still bouncing around. Before I could make any sense of the entire situation, I heard the voice of Rynn Cormel.

"Let her go, Kim!" he ordered, and someone removed, by force, the hand that was asphyxiating me and supporting my weight. I fell to the floor like a rag doll, coughing. I felt Ivy coming before I could see her. She used vamp speed. She was in a bathrobe, her hair wet and a bit disarrayed; she surely tossed the towel away when she was drying it, as she felt my pain and my astonishment, when she sensed I was in danger. My Ivy was pissed off too. I could feel her anger, and her worry about me. Her eyes were all pupil and blacker than the darkest night. Her lips were drawn back in a wordless snarl leaving her fangs uncovered. Ivy was lifting me from the floor before I could even blink. I knew she was ready to jump against her own mother for hurting me.

David, Serena and Cali were coming in a rush; I looked at them and lifted my hand from Ivy's back in a placating gesture. It would be carnage if the weres moved to intrude in this family quarrel. David saw me and stopped the girls, by extending his arms at the height of their shoulders, by his sides, the girls were coming at his sides so, they had to stop and they saw at him with worried surprise until they looked at me.

Jenks landed on David's shoulder.

"Come, my man, girls; we can't intrude in a family matter, especially when it's a vamp matter, Rachel needs to calm Ivy, and she needs to be left alone to do it. Robert needs the same to calm his wife… It's a vamp thing, no one else can intrude." The pixie instructed concerned. David and the girls looked at me once again; I nodded, grateful that my pixie friend could tell what I was unable at the moment. They retreated out of sight. But by using my second sight I could see they were still close, just in case. Mom and Cynthia were in the nursery playing with Tammy, but they came too, with Erica right behind them. Erica kept them out of sight as well. For a split second, I wondered why my instincts didn't warn me of the danger.

"I'm… fine! Fine!" I coughed a bit more, holding Ivy's shoulders with all the strength I could gather, a ridiculously small amount of strength. At least Ivy didn't let me go, I was too weak. "Please, babe. Calm down!" I asked her a bit scared. I didn't want Ivy doing anything she would regret later. Fighting physically with her own mother that was a big deal for future guilt issues, and that before counting on that Ivy was still changing due the mutation her vamp virus was still suffering.

Not to mention her mother was undead, and from her own line, which meant Kimberly was raised the same as Ivy. Kimberly had exhaustively trained to enhance her strongest features, which meant she had to be stronger than Ivy. Being as mad as she was, she could hurt Ivy and our unborn baby before anyone could stop them. My throat was a bit sore, as was my head, and back. That was the only reason Ivy held me against her tensed body. She growled at me. _Damn! She is mad! But not at me, at her mother, for hurting me, she is protecting me! She wants revenge for the pain and the attack at me, she will fight her own mother for me. _My heart melted. I was the most important person to Ivy, above her own family.

Then, I understood, I haven't been in real danger, Ivy was ready to protect me, and Rynn was also. Even though the stamping on the wall had left me vulnerable for a second, I felt the ley line I had stored inside. It was more than enough to put any undead vamp through the archway and into holy ground. Now, even though Ivy was in such angry state, she would never harm me, or let anyone to do it. I felt confidence in myself once again. _And you have to stop her right now, stupid witch, there's no time to think!_ The back of my mind shouted at me.

"Yes!" I raised my voice "You can hear me out!" I said in a determined tone, guessing that Erica spilled her guts to her mother and to Rynn. The only problem was the kid didn't know the truth about last night. Therefore, they didn't know either. For them I took Ivy to an old master vamp and he or she fucked her brains out and bit her extensively. _No wonder Kimberly is so angry with me!_

"Ivy! It's ok! She is right to be so pissed off! And you know it!" I stated with all the clarity and strength I could. Ivy hissed again at me. "Wouldn't you be really angry if you somehow believed I committed treason?" I challenged her. "She is your mother, Ivy Tamwood! And you love her!" I said determined to be heard. "No matter what! You are not going to fight with her! Not over this! Alright?" My hands stroked her head, and her neck, I was trying to get a little eye contact.

It was a good thing the vamps auras weren't affecting me now, or I would be so scared of the one Kimberly had thrown at me when she grabbed me, that I would be unable to talk for hours! The aura Ivy was pulling right now had no need to envy her mother's. In fact, Ivy's was even scarier. The menacing growling from my vamp went a bit lower, but no less fierce.

"I will explain, and when they know, then all of this is past history, love! Ok?" Ivy hissed still too angry for words. "I know, I know you hate when anyone hurts me in any way." I could hear her non-verbalized argument. I hugged her tightly, my strength coming back slowly. "Come on, honey! Calm down a bit!" I begged to her. "That's ok, you can control yourself! You are the best at it!" I cajoled her, seeing a way through her mind. When she hugged me back so forcefully that I lost almost all the air in my lungs I knew I was on track. She huffed. "That's it, my love! You are doing great, yes!" I stroked her back, with both hands in a soothing way.

Her mother was barely containing herself. Rynn was holding her by the shoulders, and Robert by the waist at her other side. Robert was talking to her as urgently and as convincingly, as I was talking to Ivy. I knew then that mother and daughter were much alike. Kimberly had given Robert power over her, even undead, as Ivy had given me power over her. We talked to them, soothing and convincing for few more minutes. Mother and daughter were exchanging occasional hisses and growls, but after a little while, they both had a rim of brown on their eyes.

"Are we calm enough to talk now?" Rynn asked both of them, with his authority as their master. His dark blue suit, with a red and sky blue tie made him look like a handsome gangster of an old movie, his authoritarian voice left no doubt he was the one in charge, even if he didn't raise it more than one octave. I gazed at him, and the shine of his impeccable shoes reached my eye. Even containing another undead he seemed cool, and collected.

"Why did you attack at Rachel like that? You could kill her!" Ivy shot first. "She was unaware…you hurt her neck again!" She reproached her mother while she was almost asphyxiating me, by tightening her protective hug on me. I felt her fear of losing me, she would never let me go, not while she had a breath of life. She moved to put her body in front of mine, just in case of another attack; her instincts were still ruling her moves.

"Ivy, who bit you?" Robert asked before her wife became mental again. At that moment, Ivy's face softened, and she looked at me, with a loving expression. Her embrace turned less oppressive. I could take a deep breath and my arms tightened around her waist, my head went to her shoulder without a thinking behind, such was the feelings she was projecting at me.

"Rachel did, dad!" Ivy moaned, memories brightening her eyes. That little noise brought back memories for me too and I felt a light blush creep up my cheeks.

"What?" Kimberly froze when she processed the answer as well as the entire change in Ivy's mood. Vamps were like lie detectors, with their enhanced senses they could know the slightest mood changes in all the people around. I knew that first hand now. Which meant Kimberly knew what Ivy had said was the truth. Astonishment calmed her down too.

"Rachel did." She repeated the answer hiding her face in the crook of my neck, she scented me deeply, relaxing a lot. Ivy kissed my neck, my body fitted on hers, as the tension on hers washed away; I moved my cheek against her still wet hair. My hands still making soothing circles on her back.

"I can vamp, as I can were. It was my first time, though." I blushed intensely, as memories of last night came to mind, I wasn't sure if it was me, or her remembering, because now I could feel her mental embrace as clearly as the physical one.

"Not the last, I hope." Ivy barely muttered, but every vamp could hear the longing feeling on her voice and the muffled sexy moan she let out. My blush extended to my chest. It made me feel embarrassed and really proud of myself at the same time. I had to fight not to grin like an idiot.

"No, it won't be the last, but we will wait until after Morgan has been born, my dear." I cajoled her. She growled intimately, quietly against my new skin. I remembered that growl, it was a constant last night, in behalf of both of us. She was feeling really sated at the memories.

_"Why?"_ Ivy was whining. It was a cute sexy whining inside my head! I was sure of no sound was made. Erica showed herself in the archway, the jaw hanging to the floor. I tried not to be distracted. This was more flattering to my ego than I expected, Ivy enjoyed so much my performance, that she surely wanted an encore!

_"Because I lost control; thankfully I adore you, Ivy. Or it could be very bad for you, and for our baby."_ I sighed relieved, rubbing my cheek against her head once again. I knew now how soothing that was for a possessive vamp, to give in on the mixed scent, to show the possession on a lover, to warn everyone she was my owner. _"I'm not familiar yet with the body reactions of a vampire, and we won't risk hurting our baby."_

_"It was great. You managed to learn control in hours. It took me years and years; and I still slip a lot on that." _She whispered mentally, like a brush of lips on my ear, however, I could feel her shame once again, due to her lack of control. Her mother was always giving her a hard time for that, Kimberly always wanted the perfect heir, and Ivy was so far from controlling her bloodlust, that she always felt inadequate and minimized.

"But you're right. We cannot endanger our baby vamp again. Only four more months, and she will be with us!" She pulled a bit away from me to look right into my eyes, this time talking aloud, in a whisper.

"But, but Erica told us, you have bites…all over!" Robert also blushed avoiding talking openly about sex.

"Yes, it was my fault, dad. Rachel made me put chains on her, foreseeing her lack of control, but…" she trailed off, expecting already the disappointment on her mother's face.

"But I tricked her, I made her think she had hurt me, and when she thought I was badly injured, she freed me, to take me to a doctor. Only, I wasn't badly injured." I shrugged my shoulders. Ivy's eyes saw at me with gratitude and warm love.

"You certainly looked like one about to die." She said. "I had taken too much blood, I wasn't sure if that much would kill you, but I didn't think that at that moment you were more like a vamp. When I noticed you were alright, it was too late and I couldn't chain you again." She sighed.

"But Ivy, you are high blood, you shouldn't have a problem dominating her." Kimberly frowned.

"Ah, nope, Rachel was stronger, mom, that's why she had to use the chains in the first place, she turned into an undead vamp, not a living one." Ivy said. "It was astonishing, the pheromones, the fangs, the whole works! After she was free…the instincts took over, she had never had the training to control any of the features, her strength, her pheromones, the territoriality, the fight for dominance. Me trying to chain her again only teased her beyond her control. Anyway, even when she bit me a few times drawing blood. Rachel listened to me, and she managed to control the blood lust. After a little while, she used Morgan as an anchor to ground her, she could control herself. After that, she mostly bit me to put saliva inside me, to help me heal faster, to help our baby to recover faster." She sighed, looking at me, and not them.

"_Thanks for the little lie."_ She smiled to me, talking mentally, a shade of pink on her cheeks, coming back to our private communication inside our minds.

"_It's not a lie at all. You freed me when you thought you had hurt me, you shouldn't have, but you did it because you love me. You were worried about me."_ I was still blushing, not as badly as before though. She remembered her fear last night when I was unresponsive. _"It wasn't a trick, I was out, you made me faint with pleasure, babe." _I confessed, and she smirked snidely, proud of herself, even if I was in the body of an undead vampire, even with the resistance of an undead vampire, she had overpowered me sexually. She felt proud of herself, as much as I was of her wanting to repeat the experience. _"Next time, I won't have chains on me, babe, so wipe that smile away!"_ I warned her, and she chuckled, with a shiver on her spine.

"_I'm counting on it, dear!"_ Ivy smiled to me, completely in control of herself; her lips lightly brushed mine before she turned to watch the three vamps across the kitchen. She hugged me by the waist, and I did the same, so that I could face her parents and Rynn too.

"But how could she? If she is not a real vamp…" Rynn said doubtfully.

"Oh that! Well, that would depend on the virus I had access to." I said. "Could we talk over coffee?" I asked hopeful.

"By all means!" Rynn nodded.

"Thanks. I think you're hungry, love." I said to my lover softly.

"Yes. I will take some pizza." Ivy smiled at me "Do you want some?"

"Yes, honey, thanks." I received her light kiss on my temple.

"You sit now; I know you're still hurting. I will bring you the coffee and the food." She led me to a chair, and gently put me on it.

"Are we cool now?" Mom came into the kitchen with Tammy on her arms. My baby waved her arms to me and Mom brought her over to me.

"Yes, mom. We are cool. Hi, baby!" Tammy tangled her little hands in my hair. "No, I didn't leave you; you wanted to play with Aunt Cynthia, Tammy." I said before her mental wave of claims. I kissed her cheeks and her belly over the romper suit. "No, mom is not mad. She is hungry. Oh, so are you." I blinked, sensing the state of my daughter.

"Oh God! I haven't fed her in an entire day!" Ivy blushed, standing by the microwave where she was heating some pizza for us.

"Yes, you did. You were out, but Rache lifted you and she made sure Tammy ate." Erica informed her. The young vamp was all flushed, in the archway.

"Oh, then you haven't slept, dear." Ivy worried at once ogling me with a clinical eye immediately.

"I slept like four or five hours, I'm fine." I smiled to my little witch, while Mom was at the stove, preparing her tea. She was wearing a long skirt and a tight sweater, certainly, mom had changed the way she dressed, now she seemed her age, a witch in her youth. She barely was over fifty years old, she hadn't reached even the half of our life span. Now we looked like sisters, after all, Robbie and I were children of very young passion.

"So, you vamped, and you bit Ivy." She said, turning to see me, she was very interested. I blushed once again. Mom was always interested in my sex life! She wanted me happy, but I wanted to hide under the table! "Oh, come on, you are a grown up, Rachel, grownups talk about this topic!" she mocked me.

"Yes, mom, I did. Things didn't go as I planned though. You see, the first time I was bitten, it wasn't a vamp, but a demon that bit me. He took the form of Ivy, but the virus he pumped into me, it wasn't Ivy's." I said. "In order to do more effective and real the bites, the demon had a deal with a master vamp. That master vamp paid the demon's favors with his blood and his saliva, and he ordered the demon to murder me and that's why the demon bit me in the first place." I explained.

"So, the first virus that infected my blood was Piscary's. Ivy's virus never could overpower it and I'd had it all along inside my veins." I said slowly, manufacturing a convincing half lie; the trick to lying convincingly was to try while mix it with as much truth as possible – especially in front of vampires. It would help stop them from realizing I was lying.

"Piscary's virus?" Kimberly was pleasantly surprised now.

"Yes, I went to consult, to be sure the demon's virus supplier was Piscary. Once I was sure of that, then I consulted the way to vamp. When I transformed into a vamp, the spell used the strongest virus to work, the one dominant in me: Piscary's. And as Piscary was the very founder of your line, then I didn't commit any treason. I reinforced Ivy's virus with some of her own line, with a twist." I explained to her.

"What twist?" Kimberly nodded interested and completely softened, sitting across from me at the table.

"Well, mom, Rachel is a witch. Therefore, she is immune to vamp virus. Her immune system has been fighting Piscary's virus, and making it even stronger. And I know it because of this." She put a served plate and a mug of coffee in front of me. "Look." She showed her neck to her. Kimberly examined visually the scars formed already, interested.

"Astonishing, it seemed at least two days old, and it's totally closed!" she nodded.

"It's totally healed in no more than 12 hours. Rachel just lost control once when I was trying to chain her again. That made her crazy. After that, she was very gentle and it worked! I shouldn't be able to walk straight after what we did to each other last night. But I can." She blushed a bit, Ivy wasn't shy about sex in some environments, but now she was talking to her parents, and my mother. Besides, she was pregnant, and she was aware that her behavior was very atypical for a pregnant vamp. Pregnant vamps usually lost bloodlust and sex lust during the pregnancy lapse.

"When Piscary blood raped me, I was in a bad shape for a week. Now, less than 12 hours and I'm hungry. I know the virus is still acting. I can hear the track for the undead that Don adds to the first releases of his albums. Rica was playing my copy while I was taking a shower. The virus is too strong. I should have thought of that when I began to drink blood exclusively from Rache. Every time I was taking a little amount of reinforced virus, and overpowering Skimmer the first time she showed up here should have been a huge hint. She is high blood." She kissed my hair, and then she kissed Tammy too. Our baby grabbed her wet locks with one hand. "Hi, love. Let me feed you." Tammy grabbed my hair with the other hand. "No?" my vamp blinked, when she saw our baby was refusing to leave me.

"I think she is saying she can wait until you eat, love." I said to her.

"Are you sure, honey?" Ivy stroked Tammy's little face with the tip of her index finger.

"Da!" she giggled, taking Ivy's finger in a playful hand. Ivy smiled at her

"It will just take me few minutes, honey." She kissed her again, and our tiny witch released her finger. The microwave was heating the pieces of pizza for her.

"You should get in pajamas, Ivy. You still need to sleep to full recovery, and that robe is wet, I don't want you catching a cold." I said to her concerned. Ivy saw me skeptical and confident.

"Your girl is right, Ivy. Go to get dry and put on some sleeping clothes, you have to recover fast, we will leave as soon we talk over what happened last night." Kimberly said to her. Ivy excused herself to go to our bedroom and my pack entered the kitchen, as she left.

"Then you vamped?" Erica looked at me. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asked still red cheeked with embarrassment.

"I wanted to tell you, I even tried to, but. I was too ashamed, Erica. I lost it. You saw how I lost it and I was afraid you would think I was just a pervert abusing your sister!" I said blushing intensely once more. David blushed as well, and he ran away, Cali and Serena followed him giggling, ready to give our alpha a hard time because of his shyness.

"I can't think that, Rache." My teen sister in law said energetically. "I have seen the way V has been behaving these months. She is teasing you all the time, Rachel! You're not precisely made of stone. Frankly, you follow every little tease she throws at you! And if she teased you as vamp, obviously things would be like they were. A vamp bites by instinct, for your first time, you weren't so wild. Very thorough yes, but the bites weren't savage." She said seriously. "But with the sex smell and you with no marks, acting all awkward every time I tried to ask something, what I was supposed to think?" The young vamp reproached at me, returning to her valley accent.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Erica. It didn't occur to me, I was so guilty I thought you had guessed the state Ivy was in, was my fault. But you don't know that my smell changes when I change, and when I change back to witch my skin renews, I lose all the visible scars, but you can feel them underneath the new skin." I explained to her.

"Sorry about that." Ivy blushed, coming in a neatly tied night robe and black slippers matching it. She went straight for the microwave to pick up her food, before she came to the table with the orange juice in one hand, and the plate with nuked pizza in the other.

"It's Ok. It's yours. I wish I still had them visible." I smiled to her, she placed the things next to mine on the table.

"In the end it really was my fault, it was me who set you free, even when I had been sternly warned about the danger. It was me who teased you beyond any control and you ended up teaching me a lesson. You didn't take any blood from me for at least two hours; you just were healing me the way vamps do." Her eyes were totally brown and she was moved, she was in love with me, and she didn't hide that fact from anyone. "But Morgan has been too quiet." She said a bit concerned, going to the coffee machine.

"How's little sis doing, Tammy?" I asked to our tiny witch. The baby yawned. "She's asleep? I asked, Tammy gave me one of her cute baby noises. "But is she feeling well?" I insisted. My ebony haired baby giggled. "Well, honey. It seems that Morgan is asleep." I said to Ivy and I took a sip of coffee. The soothing bitter flavor spread through my mouth and the pain in my head receded a bit. Ivy came to the table with another mug of coffee for herself. She kissed me lightly, taking the chair by my side.

"After that much blood, it's understandable. She overate." She nodded and she took a bite of pizza. "_Are you sure, dear heart? Even if she is sleeping, she should move somehow!" _I heard her mental voice. I focused on Tammy's feelings, and she could feel the relaxed joy of our baby witch, Tammy had been very anguished when her sister was in danger. Now, she was happy, and sure that her sister was just fine. Ivy smiled a t me_. "I love so much that you can do that! It's a marvel to be able to check on the kids that way, even more because you share it with me, Rache_." Ivy sighed sated, wrapping me in a mental hug, I hugged her back, and Tammy hugged us both. That was a surprise. We were staring at each other, with goofy grins, enjoying the love of our baby.

"Amazing. Yesterday at this hour, you were barely alive after the surgery. Now you are eating pizza." Rynn said looking at her, suspiciously.

"Sorry, Rynn, Rache just connected me with Tammy to see for myself that Morgan is ok, that feels so good!" she excused. "Yes, I feel a little off, but very well in general." She nodded, getting serious.

"Maybe you didn't notice it, Ivy, but your aura has grown already." Rynn stared at her with piercing eyes. "How is this possible? Only hours later, and you smell a bit different too; the virus is still changing you. Your speed was enhanced already as well. It took you almost nothing to get Rachel. As for your control, it has improved. 10 months ago you wouldn't have stopped from attacking." He enumerated in a deceitful even tone. He wasn't convinced yet.

"That's true, but Rachel can calm me down. It's not the first time."

"But this time you didn't stamp me on the wall, Ivy." I chuckled. "You are getting better at control. Last night you also stopped yourself too, before you took too much blood."

"You mean before I killed you, I thought I did for a moment yesterday, that's why I opened the shackles." She shook her head. "I'm still half way, dear." She sighed and she emptied her glass of orange juice. She served herself more juice, from the carton beside her plate.

"Come on, Ivy. Morgan was in danger, you had to go fast, I asked you to do it, in any case it was my idea, and you did nothing more than the necessary for saving our baby!" I stared at her. "Tell mom she is being silly, honey." I ruffled the curls on my baby's head. Tammy mumbled baby noises. "Yes, sweetie, we will play with you." I let her have some fingers on my hand.

"We've been talking. A witch cannot be the new Tamwood heir. Do we know the still unborn baby is a vamp for sure?" Rynn asked, changing the subject, he knew first hand the control issues for Ivy were very important, but private.

"Yes, Morgan is a vamp, all vamp, I think she likes blood more than me." Ivy shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I guess Tamara has to be a Morgan." Robert said. "She is a doll, but she's a witch, so she should continue your line, Rachel. Our tradition says the firstborn goes to the highest line. But Tamwood line needs a vamp to carry on." He said apologetic. Maybe for him was insulting, but my heart raced as my emotion went high, I was going to have a baby with my name! Not only I was a mother, because my genetic inheritance was hers, but Tammy would be a Morgan! I had a baby witch whom could carry on my line, and my name! My throat closed by my emotion, and when I saw Ivy's smile I knew she had already had this talk with her parents, maybe the day they spent at Claire's house after the challenge. She had made the request for me! _Thank you, my beloved!"_ I sent to her, with a warmth wave of pure love.

"_You're most welcome, my dear heart!" _she answered happily devoted inside my mind.

Mom smiled pleased, she was coming with the bottle of tea. She caressed the ebony hair of my baby, her granddaughter. Now she had what she wanted all along: an heir! _Hey, and I hadn't to marry a man to make one!_

"It's only fair. Witches have a shorter pregnancy term, it was a matter of biology, as Rachel said to us the first time she let us know that she expected one of the babies was going to be a witch. The fact Tammy is older, it's due only to her species. I'm sure Morgan is going to be a very strong vamp, because Ivy is a high blood. The only reason they were in danger yesterday is that, Morgan is used only to high blood, because she is high blooded herself." Mom said with a smile, putting down the hot bottle to let it cooling on the table. "Are you better, sweetie?" she stroked my back softly. Mom knew I was speechless for a second and she covered for me.

"Much better, mom. Now our baby is out of danger, we can take a breath and rest few days, Ivy still needs to sleep at least one more day, I think Morgan is going to remain asleep until tomorrow; she is still changing too, due to the virus mutation. What do you say, sweetie, do you want to be a Morgan?" I asked my baby witch; she pulled my fingers to her mouth with her cute baby mumble going on faster, she seemed eager and content.

"It's only fair, as your mom said, Rachel. You just turned higher the blood of our baby vamp already. So, if the Tamwoods are going to have a strong heir, you deserve one of your own, my dear. Just few minutes, and I'll feed you, honey." Ivy caressed again our baby's face.

"What happened with Natalie's informers?" Ivy asked her master, before taking another sip of orange juice. Deciding to focus on another matter of importance.

"Nothing has happened so far, Ivy, Natalie hasn't called yet." He said. "It is the same with DeLavine. There's no calls, no news, no claims, nothing." He creased his brow in a pensive grimace, his fingers drumming the table.

"Maybe he called Natalie instead of you." Kimberly mused seriously. "If he was the one ordering Skimmer's death and he is trying to frame you in some way…" she trailed off.

I ate my pizza while they were debating on the possible way this was being managed by Borgia and DeLavine. Ivy took three slices of pizza and then she took Tammy. Our baby went with her happily; the little witch was hungry as well. I finished my meal. I cleared the table and then I poured some coffee for Robert, Mom and myself. My pack entered the kitchen, relaxed by now.

"What happened yesterday at the hospital?" the master vamp asked. I told one part to him, and then Jenks and David gave their part of the story. The girls, including my sister in law occasionally jumped in to add their parts to the story. Rynn thanked them for helping us, recognizing he had to be more open to the fact I was a witch, and no ordinary witch, the rarest things were always happening around me.

I cooled the tea in the baby bottle and our baby wanted to come with me to drink it. Ivy just nuked some more pizza to eat; she was still hungry.

"Then you sent the very demon that attacked at you to deal with the assassins?" Robert asked me.

I nodded, giving Claire the entire credit for releasing me from the curse. Well 50% credit, the other 50 % was due to the spiritual contamination and the previous protection spells I put in our rings.

Then there were some embarrassing remarks on the plan to save Morgan, by my female pack members and my sisters in law.

"Well, you haven't had chance to make love in several days, withdrawal was killing you both!" Erica mocked us.

"Ivy said you have to be close to the ones with that curse on them in order to see it." Rynn remembered, returning to the most urgent matters on his agenda. I was grateful for the twist on the conversation, and David as well. I saw him sighing in relief. Still flustered by the theme of conversation.

"I would say at least within 10 meters Rynn, now that I know Paul is tainted, I can see him from here to the wall behind the cemetery, but that's because I know what to look for. But to be entirely sure, 10 meters is the max. It was about the distance they were from me in the E. R. Ivy mentioned you want me to examine all the ones you have close on a daily basis, and that is a wise measure. How do you want to do it?" I asked getting to my feet to help my baby belching.

A sudden and powerful draw on my ley line ─_Yes, I'm being stupid, but I consider the line in the cemetery mine ─_ made me close my eyes and I used my second sight. I saw the one tapping my line right away. They were in a car, coming down the street out front and heading towards the church. Six living vamps and one void – an undead vamp, were around the witch. Then, as if wasn't enough protection; another witch tapped the line as well. Moreover, one of the souls was tainted with smut, in the very way Paul outside looked like, this soul had the same stains.

"Rachel?" Ivy asked me. She noticed immediately my awareness; I was off for the rest of the vampires, but mom switched as well to her second sight the moment she guessed I was seeing someone outside the church.

"We have company. One undead vamp, six living ones, and two powerful ley line magic practitioners are in a car, and the car it's about to stop in the driveway." I informed everyone. All the vamps paid attention and Ivy got paler.

"Natalie is here!" she said to the others.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, now we go to prepare the way in making friends and allies, not a topic I'm very good at but I will do my best. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Hi, guys, this chapter was corrected by Savior 8801, he kindly offered to do the revision and being him the one indirectly responsible for this fic, (I had the idea of Million while I was reading his piece Breaking the habit) I'm honored he took the time to do it.

Thank you all for staying on board.

And thank you so much for the reviews. You keep me trying to finish this one, guys.

CHAPTER 23

Rynn Cormel frowned; for a split second, he couldn't hide the worry and the anger he felt learning Natalie was coming, but the master Vamp got a grip on his emotions before anyone but me could tell for sure. However, I felt the anger like an explosion in front of me. This empathy was getting to be a burden, but I was grateful for having it, as it allowed me to see below the surface and know the true intentions of the people around, of any race so far.

This was unexpected. Natalie was coming to the church, without warning. She was ignoring the authority of Rynn as the Master Vamp of Cinci. The Californian Master vamp hadn't called him; she wasn't heading for his Headquarters. No, she was coming to my home, surely believing I was dead. _Could she... she is coming for my Ivy! That's why Rynn is THIS pissed!_ The realization hit me as a Mack truck. Natalie was coming to claim Ivy for herself. She was here for a quick operation of snatching and running, under Rynn's nose.

The master vamp used his cell phone and gave instructions quickly. The limo stopped and Cormel's men were in front of the church almost immediately. Since I was still using my second sight, I could see the auras of all of them, friend and foe, reacting to the presence of the old Master vamp. The living vamp bodyguards went out the vehicle first. Five of them, and one had smut on her, just like Paul and Mike. Borgia had obviously been busy infecting a mole in Natalie's camarilla as well. Then the witches, and finally the woman with no soul came out the fancy bulletproof and sun proof limousine. It was just the same model Claire lent to Kimberly and Robert to go see Rynn. Renata had told me they were costume made for master vamps all over the world, only this one wasn't black, but silver color. They weren't too surprised to see the welcome party Rynn sent them. They were expecting the bodyguards.

However, when Maurice respectfully said something to Natalie, all of their auras stirred with annoyance. Rynn ordered me to head to holy ground with my baby, and asked mom, Erica and my pack to do the same. I continued using my second sight as I listened to his advice, already numbed inside; I didn't like the idea of leaving Ivy alone with two master vamps. I remained close in the living room.

Natalie made up her mind quickly and she accepted to be guided towards the kitchen door. Four of her bodyguards came with her and the two witches as well. Of course, two were left outside. One of the bodyguards stayed with the chauffer; someone had to be sure the limo wouldn't be sabotaged.

Kimberly opened the door personally when Maurice knocked softly. Natalie's bodyguards entered first and spread out to stand on the corners of the kitchen, without a word. All of them were tall and beautiful; two were blondes and two brunettes, all of them dressed in leather, of different colors and styles, but all the outfits became their owners, and enhanced their most attractive body features. All of them wore heels, vamp made leather boots. **No heels to be found there; all of them wore mostly flat vampire leather boots, stylish and functional in equal measure. They are bodyguards after all, and might need to run or fight, which isn't easy in high heels, no matter your species.**

Following them all, the most normal woman entered. She wasn't tall, standing about the same height as Kim, but fairly beautiful; pale, very pale, alabaster skin, dark brown eyes, classical features, dark brown hair, braided beautifully... Her fashion sense was top notch. She wore a leather coat, over a business suit all in black, with slacks and Prada high heels. Tasteful and expensive jewellery showing she had it all, and above all, she looked human. This one was just as Piscary was the very first time I saw him in his club. She didn't feel the need to flounder any of her vamp skills, even when making a dramatic entrance; that was the kind of confidence she had in her abilities and power.

Vampire basics 101: the more human they look, the more dangerous they are. _And Natalie is the ultimate predator!_ I reminded myself once again. Her face was serious. Kimberly and Robert bowed to her, as did Ivy. I thought the vamp manners were a bit humiliating, and considering none of the Natalie's companions had bowed before Rynn, that might have been a mistake. I could feel the fear in Ivy, Natalie showing up like this only meant trouble. Maybe she was here to declare war against Rynn and his camarilla. Natalie could be using her as an excuse. I could feel what my partner in life was feeling, and hear what she was thinking, and see what she was seeing. Her mind was spinning, but most importantly, a shiver ran down her spine when she saw Natalie; and flashes of a bed session with her filtered through our bond, making my gut clench with jealousy, _Ivy slept with her_! I snarled mentally, but there was no time to think on that. _No way...Natalie has bitten her that time!_ Not good, Natalie was as old as Piscary and a bite meant she could lay her claim on Ivy! That's what she feared right now!

Rynn was being bold; he had no bodyguards with him inside. If Natalie attacked him, she could kill him. She was much older. She was as old as Piscary was. Kim, on the other hand was a very young undead. If she had his back, she could be enough to fight the three living vamp bodyguards, but the Californian master vamp had two witches ready to use ley line magic. Natalie had the upper hand. If she wanted, she could kill them all and take Ivy with her. One wrong move or word and... That was a chilling possibility.

The witches entered behind the master vamp. I blinked, even though I was seeing them through Ivy's eyes. They were blond, and obviously twin sisters, identical twins. They even had matching bite marks on their necks. _Far too kinky to me! Natalie surely fucked them both, and maybe at the same time. _They were pretty, maybe one inch taller than their mistress. They wore leather coats and beautiful dresses, identical clothes as well. They seemed so slender, so ethereal; they looked like the good witches must look in the fairy tales. No doubt, Natalie liked to be surrounded by beautiful and elegant women. However, their looks were deceitful, the two of them positively crackled with power. They were powerful ley line witches, and both of them were prepared to attack and defend, more like, one was prepared to attack and the other to defend. They were a team, a dreadful team of witches. I warned Ivy about them clearly, and with every threat in the room properly labeled and catalogued, she turned her attention back to the two power players, acknowledging me unsteadily.

Rynn was capable of looking human too, and he was giving it his best effort. He adopted a casually indifferent stance, looking at Natalie like if he was receiving her on his own place. They both stayed a moment assessing the other one, with careless grimaces.

"Welcome, Natalie." he said with his famous smile. Natalie smiled as well, a supermodel smile, sexy but at the same time welcoming and friendly. They were both as fake as a two dollar bill, they both knew it, but to any uninformed witness, they would be as sincere as a child could be. They were both that good at impersonating humans.

"Thank you, Rynn." She nodded. "I am glad you are here, I was having second thoughts all the way from California. I was angry when I made the decision of coming and claiming Ivy. Nevertheless, I had some time to really consider the facts, and I know you are a reasonable person. We can discuss the matter and reach an arrangement suitable for both parties. First of all…" she approached Ivy, and her brows slightly creased as she took in her scent. Natalie opened the robe and **lifted her pajama top** without asking for any permission, either from Rynn or Ivy. Ivy forced herself to remain calm and quiet. Seeing how that bitch was looking at her (and yeah, knowing that they had slept together too), I, on the other hand, was feeling like coming out and punching the freaking Californian master vamp in the face! Natalie's frown was accentuated even further at the sight of the multiple healed, but recent bites all over Ivy's upper torso. Still handling Ivy, Natalie moved her to look on the scars left by Skimmer's stabs on her side and back. There were scars, because the doctors had already stitched her inner wounds and the skin before I could heal her. "Then it is true." she shook her head, in a very human way, disappointed. "My Skimmer was the one who did this, Ivy?"

"Yes." Ivy answered without emotion. She managed to hide her own discomfort; she could feel the eyes of every vampire judging her body now that she hadn't the figure she used to, she saw the way their eyes averted and the distaste in them at the sight of her stretched abdomen, two of them disliking the body, as shallow as Skimmer, but the other two seemed more uncomfortable I could almost read pity, knowing the baby was a product from a rape, performed by some lower vamp. Her belly wasn't as big as only 3 days before, but the skin had no marks due to the stretching of pregnancy (Morgan was a petit vamp for now, our baby still had four months left to grow and mature completely), and her breasts were full and bigger than before because she was breastfeeding Tammy. Whatever their problem was, they were overreacting, and didn't like their judgmental looks. I sent her my reassuring thoughts; I liked her body, she was having my kids and every little change on her body I cherished and adored. Ivy closed her clothes quickly the moment Natalie stepped away from her.

"I was prepared to offer you some blood to help the baby. I received news of the gravity of your wounds, and the danger of losing your baby and your life as well. I know the one in the hospital is a decoy, I sent a spy to check on her, and it is an undead healthy vamp the one in the hospital. I deduced you would come to your own house, to protect yourself from undead while you were weak, you are a clever girl, you always have been; no one would suspect you were hiding in plain sight, in your own place, anyone would think Cormel would give you a place, a secret place to recover." Natalie spoke directly to Ivy. "I see you already drank blood from an old undead. It is astonishing you are this well, after only 24 hours out of danger. What about the baby?"

"She is safe, thank Heaven." Ivy said after a glance stolen at Cormel for approval.

"Good." Natalie nodded. "It's not the same, but with time, and with my intervention, your child will begin a new line." She said facing Cormel. Ivy felt very afraid for a moment, and anger ran through me. _How can this woman dare to try to take my unborn baby? Who does she think she is? She is no one to talk so lightly of intervening in the life of my baby vamp!_ "I want Ivy, Rynn. In compensation for Skimmer. I invested a lot of time and effort in her, not to mention that I founded her line over a millennium ago, and you killed her twice, out of your own bounds. Ivy is the closest one in your camarilla to the one you have taken from me." She said in a cold way, now pure business.

"Natalie, please." Rynn pointed the table, with an elegant gesture of his hand. Ivy went into the pantry and came back with two bottles of a very expensive red wine, the bodyguards that tensed in expectation of an attack relaxing the moment they saw her with the bottles. Ivy had chased the wine dealer for months to get a case, a single case of that wine and she paid a little fortune for it. Rynn smiled at her and let her be busy taking the glasses out of a cabinet and warming the wine for them.

"Look, Rynn. I do not know who gave Ivy blood, but I am old, I can see she received a lot of blood from an undead donor, or maybe more than one donor. She could not be this fine unless she had taken an infamous quantity of undead blood, enough to debilitate any undead, maybe enough to nearly kill them as well. That suggests you either have some elders endorsing and backing you up, at great personal risk, or that you found a way to kill more than one elder in the process of saving Ivy's life and her unborn child." Natalie stated earnestly. "I do not care. I came to take from you what you already have taken from me." Her voice was clear, and even, calm, but I knew very well she could fake any emotional inflections humans had. "No, let me finish, Rynn." She asked politely when Rynn tried to retort something. "I approved of DeLavine taking her in. I was angry with my Skimmer, but she was my descendant in a way I cherished. I was trying to teach her a lesson, but I have never truly severed ties with her. I always had people informing me of every activity she took part in. I was always seeing after her. I am afraid I spoiled my little girl too much. When she said she wanted to be with Ivy, I gave her my blessing, even though I knew Piscary hated me, and she could be in danger." She shook her head, as if she truly regretted the decision she made at that time.

"My Skimmer never dealt well with rejections, of any kind. And she did not take well to the fact Ivy had grown up and moved on. I will not say I understand Ivy, because I do nit. My Skimmer was the best thing that ever happened to her. I have no clue why she would turn her back on Skimmer and what she could possibly see on a witch that would justify becoming such a renegade." She made a little very human snarling sound; it seemed more charming than angry. "I tried to understand, I gathered some information on the witch, and I was not impressed. She was not particularly beautiful; she was a trouble-maker, too impetuous for her own good. Maybe she was a good girl, but Ivy risked her life, and her line, everything she was for her." The master vamp shook her head again. It was astonishing the degree of mastery she had on being human by using the most simple gestures.

"I know love is blind, but to make so many sacrifices... no one, not even a high blood vampire is worthy of that!" she said convinced of the words. "I know my Skimmer was very hurt and very disappointed with Ivy, and that she went as far as to declare war to her. For me it was no more than one lovers' quarrel. Something that would pass by and would eventually leave them reunited once more. I thought Skimmer was trying to get over Ivy; I know she was dating another vamp heiress with a bloodline even more impressive than the Tamwoods. Things were going well. Suddenly she skipped the orders from DeLavine and she came again on her own to Cincinnati." She enumerated, indeed she sounded reasonable at all times. Rynn was maintaining a respectful silence; he only nodded when she paused.

"You are maybe waiting for a call from DeLavine. He is not going to call you; I told him that I would arrange things with you. As I said, I was looking over my Skimmer, and I had regular contact with DeLavine. He called me to tell me the girl he brought to be my child's new lover was very disappointed when Skimmer came here unexpectedly without asking for any authorization from her master, only because she caught wind of something about Ivy. The girl returned to Europe and he was very upset. The next thing I knew, Skimmer had stabbed Ivy in the back in a very literal way, and you had killed her twice!" her brows creased a bit, looking at Cormel. "I must say that was a stake through my heart, Rynn. You should have retained my child and talked to me or DeLavine before touching her." She sighed shaking her head. For some reason, she was insisting on the strategy of showing herself human. Maybe it was the thousands of years of practice she had, like strength of habit. She insisted on the importance of Skimmer in her life and esteem.

Rynn had listened to her very attentively, and with a serious expression. Now I could feel him taking a mental breath, getting ready to play his trump card. Natalie had made a mistake; he had Skimmer alive, Natalie had been misinformed, perhaps for DeLavine, and she made her all point a compensation matter. There was no real danger of her taking Ivy away, he always could give Skimmer to her, and she had to take her after all her theatrics. She had made a mistake on judgment and in order to remain coherent and logic, she had to quit on her intentions towards Ivy.

The master vamps had taken the opposite sides at the table. Kimberly was seated to his right, Robert to his left. Ivy came with the wine and served all of them, Rynn nodded to her signaling Natalie, ordering in silence that the guest Master Vamp were served first. Rynn took Ivy's laptop and used a memory stick to load something, then turned the screen towards his rival so she could see the events of Skimmer's attack for herself. Ivy closed her eyes, feeling for a second the same emotional loss she felt when she thought I was dead.

"I just couldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. Why? Why did Skimmer do this if the witch was already dead? She could have conquered Ivy anew." Natalie's dark eyes were fixed on the table. I can't blame you for rushing, Ivy was about to die, she had not provoked Skimmer's attack upon her, she was mourning the death of her lover, she couldn't be more distracted. To make matters worse, she is pregnant; it is unforgivable to attack a pregnant vampire!" in this she even used emotion, that was a true claim from her. "There are so few newborns every year; we all should protect every one. No matter how the baby was conceived." the smooth honey of her voice turned to bile with the last of her words. Rynn smiled broadly at that.

"Meaning?" he asked.

"Nothing, Ivy would never get rid of a baby, even if is the unfortunate by-product of a rape performed by a low-life vampire." Natalie shrugged the shoulders. Rynn laughed quietly and that got the attention of Natalie.

"No?" she asked.

"No. Natalie, there was no rape at all. Ivy got pregnant by the love of her life. Only we didn't know. None of us could know what happened. However, that version was all over the streets in less than a month. I have a mole, or maybe more than one in my camarilla." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "You say you want Ivy as compensation. But I cannot give her to you!" he smiled.

"I am old, Cormel, much more so than you, and I already have bitten her. I have a rightful claim to her, and you are not nearly strong enough to overpower it." The undead woman smiled snidely. "There are _very_ few of us able to overpower me." she said confidently. Her dark eyes fixed on Ivy. My vamp was nervous, and she remained nervous until she started to suffer a slight sensation of rejection. She felt the powerful mind trying to be spell her, but Natalie couldn't get in.

"_You better not listen to her or I'll have your ass, Tamwood!"_ I said to her, and Ivy smiled shaking her head.

"_Dear heart, are you jealous?"_ I could hear the smugness on her mental voice.

"_Jealous? You bet your beautiful ass on that. You're mine, Ivy Alisha Tamwood!"_ I warned her, both with my tone and my feelings.

"_Calm down, dear, you know I'm yours."_ Ivy conceded the point, suddenly worried for my possible actions.

"Ivy, why are you shaking your head?" Natalie asked displeased.

"I'm sorry, Natalie. I got distracted. You were saying?" Ivy blushed a bit.

"Distracted?" suddenly the kitchen was filled with pheromones. At that point, Ivy not only felt rejection but a bit of nausea.

"_How odd! Her pheromones are very repellent to me now. But, she is trying to get me, and I don't feel it. Rachel! Your claim worked! She cannot reach me. I don't feel anything but rejection_." she blinked excited by the fact Natalie couldn't affect her. I was in exultation for a second as well, but then I felt something like a shriek of pure anger, a feral statement of war, boring a hole into my brain. At the same time, a whiplash of pain from Ivy sent a shiver down my spine. Tammy moved restlessly in my arms, she was getting angry as well, and she shouted with all the strength of her very healthy, very powerful lungs. She was obviously reacting to whatever was effecting her mom, and I wasted no time diving back into Ivy's mind. My lover braced herself, the pain came from her womb, Morgan had wake up in a very bad mood, and she was kicking and punching with all her strength.

"What is it Ivy?" Rynn asked her, worried at her grimace of strain and anguish.

"Morgan, she is... moving too hard, Rynn!" Ivy answered between clenched teeth. Kimberly was already touching her belly, concerned.

"This is definitely not normal, Ivy."

Natalie had move so fast Ivy hadn't noticed her until her hand was touching her baby bump, right besides Kimberly's hand. It was like dipping a live wire in a pool of water; Morgan went completely berserk! I could translate her feelings and her mental screams as what they were: vampire territoriality. The unborn vampire was absolutely screeching, _Don't touch mom! Mom is mine! Go away! Mine! Mine!_ Ivy bent forward, protecting her belly, when her daughter's energy flashed through her flesh.

"Oh, by heaven's name! Is this a… aura?" Kimberly stuttered in bewilderment.

"Yes, it is a hunting aura. For the love of blood! This baby is as strong as a teenager already!" the master vamp from California said with eyes widened. She was baffled for a second, and then greed glared in her eyes clear for everyone in the room to see.

"Stop it!" I demanded entering in the kitchen in a hurry, only to run into a freaking wall. The pheromones flooding the room hit me with nausea like I had never felt before. It was like diving into a sewer. Repellent was the euphemism of the decade; Natalie's pheromones were disgusting, revolting and my stomach twisted painfully. _Maybe with Skimmer, her pheromones were a big part of my dislike, not only the demon stench. However Skimmer's pheromones were very weak compared to the ones from her Master, it is like a concentrated of pure loathing. Too strong._

"Oh, my God!" I covered my mouth with a hand I was already half way to Ivy. "You are making Morgan mad. Stop touching her, and stop the pheromones!" I demanded, trying not to breathe. Ever tried speaking while doing that? Cuts the effectiveness a bit... "Morgan, no one is defying you, honey." I said aloud. "Calm down. You're hurting mom!" I warned her. "Oh, God! Take Tammy, Robert." I asked him, I couldn't get any closer than three steps away from Ivy and Natalie. The living vampire held my restless little witch as let out a new cry... no, not crying, she was shouting, mad as well, in perfect synchrony with the mental screams of Morgan.

I couldn't hold the contents of my stomach for much longer. I ran to the door, and opened it, I barely could give three steps out, and my stomach twisted so painfully as I vomited my dinner, and maybe a part of my guts with it; that was certainly what it felt like. Maurice came to help me carefully, holding me safely by the waist and a shoulder, concerned.

"What is it Miss Morgan?" he asked worried.

"The stench!" I barely gasped, before another dry heave shut me up. I panted in pain when some freezing air cleared my nose for a moment, I had nothing more to puke out, but I bent forward with the painful clenching of my stomach anyway.

"Jenks, call Claire!" Ivy shouted in distress; her pain was acute and the blows from Morgan only grew more raging and stronger. She hunched over her baby bump, whispering hopefully soothingly to the child within her. "Morgan, calm down, little one!" she pleaded, her voice strained by a new series of blows inside her. Kimberly and Natalie left her alone; even if they didn't understand, Ivy was suffering internal injuries, and that was clear to everybody. Too bad it wasn't good enough... for either sister.

I felt how Tammy tapped the line. I knew what she was about to do on instinct. Tammy let out a discharge of ley line energy against the Californian master vamp, and it was not a weak attack.

"No, Tammy!" I ordered, and I tapped the line myself, I raised a circle to protect her and Robert, because I also could feel the instantaneous attack of one of the witches on her. My bubble of ever after absorbed the attack of the blonde witch. And the other witch had raised a circle that stopped the attack from Tammy. I made a swirl of ley line energy and sent it inside the kitchen. "That is only to clear the air of pheromones. I won't attack you, but you do as much as touch a hair off my baby's head and you will wish to never have been born, blondies!" I warned in a growled voice. My eyes shut closed. I had to close them; they were all green. My hidden marks itched, begging me to get out and exact retaliation against the ones upsetting and attacking my babies. My little witch attacked again, but my bubble absorbed her lightning bolt of ley line power. "Tamara Morgan, stop it now!" I ordered firmly. The swirl of ley line moved all over the kitchen, causing a strong draft of air, that disarrayed the hair on everybody, I called it out and step inside, Maurice still holding me. "Thanks, Maurice; it was very kind of you."

"Are you sure you can walk, Miss Morgan? Your eyes are closed."

"Yes, thanks, it helps with the nausea to use only my second sight." I went to the sink and washed my mouth quickly. "Tammy!" I warned her again, when I felt the new pull on the line from her. "No!" I rushed to Robert who was trying to hold her; she shrunk and fell out the clothes while her grandfather was left only with her wrinkled blanket in his hands. I dived to the floor, passed through my circle, slid through the floor, getting on my back while still moving, I reached up with my hands and barely grabbed my little black wolf cub in the air before she could crash in the floor. My baby's wolf ears were pointed all the way back, and she was growling as menacing as she could towards the Master vamp and the witches, even though she was hanging in the air, in my hands and unable to move on her own. I put her on my belly and I puffed, then took a deep breath, relieved that I arrived to catch her in time and she wasn't hurt. I got a grip on my reaper side (that part of our story Natalie did _not_ need to know about...), and I opened my eyes to glare at her while I was cradling safely in my arms.

"Tammy! What did I tell you just yesterday?" I chastised her, sitting on the floor. "No one is going to hurt mom, no one is going to take her away. You better help me calm your sister down. Morgan is hurting mom, Tammy." I said earnestly, making the tiny cub whine a bit. "Yes, No one is taking her away, honey. Mom is in pain. Morgan has to calm down!" I took the hand Robert was offering me, a bit embarrassed; he had wanted to keep his grand-daughter safe from his own vampire strength and it caused him to let her fall. I guess not even his vamp reflexes could prepare him for a toddler changing into a wolf cub... It was no fault of his own, but still he had a pink shade covering his cheeks. He helped me to stand up and I smiled at him, despite my body felt so shaky and weakened. "Thank you, Robert." He nodded as well, one apologetic look upon his marked face. Then I walked towards Ivy, making eye contact with her first before delicately laying a hand on her, unlike someone else in the kitchen had. She nodded jerkily and let me touch her belly. I sat on the floor in front of her.

I felt the astonishment in all the strangers. Even in Cormel, and Kimberly and Robert were surprised by what they had just witnessed. Tammy had used ley line energy, she had learned it from me; she was very alert when I attacked the assassins the day before; she only had to experience the magic through me to learn how to use it. My little Tamara was a force of nature! But I had no time to worry for them just now. I had to help Ivy. I settled my black cub safely on one of my arms, and she leaned her head against Ivy's belly as well, making calming noises to Morgan, connecting her mind with her sister's through their bond.

"Morgan!" I called my baby vamp. "Morgan, pay attention to me!" I asked quietly but firmly, no matter how quiet I could be, vampire hearing was too good to miss it. I focused on the image of Ivy curled onto herself due to the pain, and sent it to both my babies. If Tammy had calmed down, Morgan was raging, unreceptive to anything except that she was feeling threatened. I tried to envelope her mind, sending calming and concerned feelings to her. "You have to stop now, Morgan, hurting mom is hurting yourself. No one is challenging you, honey. No one is claiming mom. Mom is yours and your sister's! I'm here, baby. You have to calm down." The aura stopped, and the unborn vampire went still, seeing Ivy hurting because of her had scared her. Then I felt her fear and her pain, she had never intended to hurt Ivy, she was only defending her.

"That's it, honey, easy, no one is claiming mom. Mom is ours!" I repeated. I was trying to send in feelings that idea to her. "No, baby, don't cry, mom knows you didn't want to hurt her." I cajoled her when the raging screams turned into sorrowful crying in my head. I felt Jenks landing in my shoulder and stole a quick glance at him; there a very worried look on his face. No doubt he could smell the blood pooling under Ivy's skin...

"Alice called Claire, she is on her way. How are you holding up, Ivy?" he asked like a worried father.

"I think Morgan reached my bladder, I don't know." she panted, still hurting.

"I have pain amulets. I can give you one." I offered, concerned. "At least until Claire gets here you'll be more comfortable."

"Please." she nodded, taking Tammy from my arm. "So, you did it again, baby?" she asked her a little sternly. Our baby licked just licked her hand. "Honey, you are too little to go on the offensive. Mommy told you, love… defense!" she caressed her daughter's little black head. Tammy grunted, displeased. Ivy chuckled quietly. I went to the cabinet in which I stored my amulets and potions, I retrieved one and activated it in the way back. Ivy sighed in relief the moment she took it. I hugged her, standing next to her chair, and she leaned on me. We both chuckled quietly after few seconds of heavy silence. "You think we can survive 18 years of this?" she asked me.

"We're so screwed..." I sighed. "They both have your territorial sense, and my temper."

"We only have to cope with them until they learn how to control themselves." Ivy murmured comfortingly.

"You're such an optimist, Ivy. If they are like me, they will be 25 before they learn the first thing about self-control. I tell you, honey, the kids are going to make me pay for each and every prank I pulled on mom, and then some. Sorry you have to get in the ride with us!" I caressed her hair, taking a step back to see at her.

"I wasn't an angel myself, Rache." Ivy sighed too. I went to the counter and took a spell pot out of the hanger, I walked to the stove, my spelling stove, and I started to cut some herbs. "What are you doing?"

"A potion to heal your internal wounds. You are getting bruised already, we have to stop the bleeding before it becomes big and more painful." I answered absentminded. The cute menacing growling started again, and I spared a look at Tammy. No matter how menacing she wanted to be, she just managed irresistible cuteness, with those tiny, teeny, almost nonexistent fangs of her. What worried me was the cause of the growling. I spotted the witches from the corner of my eyes; their jaws were almost grazing the floor. Even more worrisome, Natalie had her eyes fixed on Ivy and my black cub. "Stop staring at our baby, blondies. You already are tapping her line. For Tammy, that line out back is hers, and she barely shares it with me. Seriously, you've never seen a transformation charm before?" I frowned.

"Not like that. And you are supposed to be dead." Natalie said directly to me. "How old is the little witch?"

"Three days old." Rynn answered her with a smile. "She is a little marvel, don't you think?"

"Indeed..." the Californian Master vamp fixed her eyes again on Ivy, more greedily than ever. "Then the day the focus was destroyed...?"

"Yes, Ivy gave birth to Tamara. Tamara Morgan. The Tamwood line cannot be continued by a witch, so, we had to break the tradition, and left the first born to Rachel, only for her species. The baby vampire, Morgan, still has almost four months to go before birth, just like any of our normal children." He said with a smug. "However, she is very strong, and as advanced as Tammy is, by the look of it. That spell somehow enhanced the strongest features of both our races." He smiled

"How? You're saying the witch impregnated Ivy somehow?" Natalie's eyes fixed on my back, I could feel them, but I didn't want her to know I could sense her so well, so I continued busying myself with my potion.

"Yes, Rachel got injured in the middle of a spell. She was trying to save Ivy's life, she was dying, but with the wounds they both suffered, the spell misfired. The result was she got Ivy pregnant. Only since they were badly injured, they both went into a coma, Ivy woke up six days later, pregnant, and we didn't know how that happened, not even Ivy. We assumed someone took advantage on her while she was unconscious, in the little interval of time she was alone, between the moment Kimberly left her shortly before sunrise, and the arrival of Robert or Erica to watch over her in the daytime." Rynn explained with a smile.

"We learned the truth about her pregnancy when Rachel woke up herself, barely over two months ago. None of us believed her, just Ivy. Once Tamara had born, we had to accept it as the truth, since Tammy obviously has most of her features from Ivy, but she is a witch. Very few know about this, Natalie. This is the first interspecies pregnancy for vampire kind, and from the look of it, it was a very successful one for both of them. It was a kind of accident. Rachel lost control of the magic when she was severely wounded, but even so, she didn't quit on her attempt to save Ivy. And now, they have a baby witch and are still expecting a baby vampire." He shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, pulling an aura while still in the womb, that was something. You really angered the baby, Natalie, hunting on her territory this way. That one will be a legend!" he smiled proudly. _As if he had anything to do with it! _I mentally sneered, annoyed_._

"Yes, we only can expect great things from her, if she already can pull out an aura four months from birth." she nodded. "You can be certain, Rynn, I will take especially good care of her, because the fact is that I have not changed my mind. I will still claim Ivy. Maybe I cannot claim her while she is pregnant, to keep the baby safe, but you killed my Skimmer, and you will compensate me for her."

"Ah, Natalie! How could I compensate you, when the intelligence I received said that it was you who ordered the hit not only on Miss Claymor, but on Ivy as well?" he asked reasonably, showing he could seem as human as her.

"What are you talking about, Cormel?" Natalie frowned, getting her hair free; her braid had suffered from my violent gust of wind, and damn, but her loose hair was beautiful! The soft, thick locks fell attractively to cover part of her back, and covered her chest admirably in the front in a perfect, tame cascade of dark silk. _She can compete with Ivy's silky hair. And she looks younger now too... why do all vamps have to be so attractive even if they're being casual? It ain't fair..._

"It's a long story Natalie. However, you have to know some facts. You say you have a claim on Ivy, but you saw the effect your pheromones had on Ivy and her Scion. You caused her injuries, and the babies are distressed. Now, it's your turn to listen."

"Very well." she slightly creased her brows. Rynn called Maurice and asked him to bring the assassin from the shed. I finished the chopping of the ingredients the back of my mind was choosing; by the time the big guy entered the kitchen with the assassin.

"My Jenny! What have you done to her, Cormel?" Natalie asked. _This woman has a very strong sense of possession over other people._

"She's asleep, under the effect of a sleep charm. Maybe she is cold too, we had to put her in the shed. The church is overcrowded since Rachel's pack is staying in here until we can be sure there will not be any reprisals upon them from the other were packs in response to the destruction of the focus." He said with a bit of a smug air. He already knew Natalie had no claim on Ivy, and he could always handle Skimmer to her. "Do you have any salt water in here, Rachel?"

"Sure." I took a mug, filled it in my container and poured it on the assassin that Maurice left on the floor before getting out at a sign of Rynn's hand. The assassin jumped off the floor and landed on her feet already preparing to fight, crouching a bit into a more feral position, I gave her my back to go back to my potion. The assassin looked at me, with my pajamas, in my bunny slippers, with a robe that didn't match, and my hair really was a mess. Between I only combed it with my fingers, and after the vomiting and the swirling air to clear the kitchen. I was a mess. I had shadows on my eyes, I was exhausted and my looks matched my state of tiredness. Beside Ivy, despite she was in a similar outfit, (she looked stunning with her stance and natural elegance) I was a disgrace on feet. Funny thing, I didn't care!

"You should be dead! And you will be, witch!" she snarled in a menacing hiss.

"Get in line, Jennifer Pamela Kilmore. A lot of people have wanted to kill me for a lot longer than you do." I chuckled seeing her from the corner of my eye. "Besides, you might want to talk with them first." My head pointed to the table. The assassin got paler the moment she saw Natalie and Rynn Cormel. Quite a feat for an undead vamp without a pulse. _She knows she is in deep shit._ I thought gleefully, because I'm such a great person like that.

Suddenly my little wolf cub became mad again, and she barked and growled at the assassin. Ivy had to tighten her hold on her again.

"Honey, there's no danger, be quiet." She murmured to our little wolf. Tammy grunted displeased at her. "No arguments, be quiet." Ivy kissed her head. "Mommy is here, and I'm here, no need to be rude, love." Ivy insisted, and Tammy curled on her arm, obeying at last. She was absolutely gorgeous!

Jennifer took a deep breath. Then she took a knee, lowering herself to the floor in a formal and old gesture of servitude, with her eyes cast down.

"I'm sorry, Master. I have failed you. I will walk into the sun if that's what you want." She offered, in an even, formal voice. _At least she has dignity! _I couldn't avoid admiring a bit the undead assassin. She was obviously the heir to a tradition older than most everyone in the room put together.

"Jenny, what are you doing here, in Cincinnati?" Natalie asked her.

"I came under your orders, master. You ordered a hit, and the deposit entered in my account only ten minutes later. Therefore, I recruited Blanche and we came here to kill Skimmer and Ivy Tamwood. I guess Blanche didn't make it. Please, Master, tell Kathy I'm very sorry."

Natalie frowned a bit.

"Say that again." she ordered slowly.

"I know I have no right to ask for anything, master. I promised Kathy I would bring Blanche back to her before their anniversary, and she is not to blame for my failures." The undead said apparently ashamed. "Please, take care of her now that Blanche isn't with us anymore, Kathy will be a wreck."

"No, Jenny. I did not order a hit on my own descendant!" Natalie stated earnestly. "Who really hired you?"

"Master, you did!" the undead began to feel herself over her wrinkled and wet clothes with both hands, and then she pulled a sophisticated palm pilot out from the inner pocket of her coat. "I always keep records, just in case of double crossing or blackmailing purposes, as you taught me. May I?" she asked showing her the gadget.

"Give it to me." Natalie extended a hand. The underling drew closer, her eyes never meeting her mistress', and put the gadget on her palm softly before returning to her previous position and place. Natalie quickly manipulated the little apparatus, her brow creasing slowly when she found what she wanted. "This is my code." The assassin was silently respectful, not even looking at her, using, as most vamps did, an unreadable mask, an emotionless face. When Natalie said that though, it was like a tacit authorization for the assassin to explain herself, because said assassin began to talk.

"Yes, Master. I thought you were fed up with Skimmer's scandals; all of us know how patient you have been with her. Heather called me to give me the details, and she arranged for a mole in Cormel's camarilla to hand Skimmer to us. When Blanche and I arrived to the hospital, we found out that McNamara and Richardson from Texas, as well as Bronson and Taylor from Chicago had arrived at the same time. They came hired by you as well to do the same job. I must say I felt insulted because you didn't trust my skills. They said I was in charge, so we entered. I should have known you wouldn't take measures like that without a good reason." Her eyes met with her master's eyes. "As soon we arrived to Tamwood's room, we saw it was crowded. Erica Randall, and some witches were also there. That baby turned into wolf cub and all of us were flabbergasted for a second. Then hell came upon us." She frowned at the memory, her eyes turned almost all black, just a tiny sliver of a rim still colored.

"A demon just appeared in the room, he punched McNamara. Then the demon protected all of them inside an ever after circle, and he turned into a demon version of Tamwood's witch. It defanged McNamara. It was blood chilling even for undead vampires, Master. We couldn't help him, the demon put another circle around McNamara and itself while it was yanking out his fangs" She trembled at the memory flash in her head. Natalie wasn't showing any emotion, her face was a mask of cold indifference.

"Then the demon beheaded McNamara. Once it was done, it staked Bronson and Taylor, with cursed weapons, Richardson made the mistake of touching the weapons, and he lost both arms. The demon staked him too. After that, the demon attacked Blanche and I. The next thing I knew I woke up here. We couldn't carry out your orders, we were overconfident and none of us had faced a demon before. I don't think even the witches had an opportunity. I assumed the witch sent the demon to protect her master." Her eyes didn't hide the grudge against me when they fixed on me. "We were told the witch was already dead." Natalie listened to her attentively, her face giving nothing away. At the same time, she was pressing keys on the palm pilot.

"Then you just killed my Skimmer, Jenny?" she asked coldly, the air in the room getting a wintery chill just from her voice.

"No, master, we didn't. The demon also protected Skimmer... although it may have killed her later; the demon threatened her before putting a curse on her. As an advice, master, never send vamps alone against demons. There were six of us, all undead for at least 30 years and we could do nothing against one single demon." She sounded bitter.

"Is my Skimmer still alive, Cormel?" Natalie asked, her eyes glaring with a mix of admiration and anger, she was now realizing that Rynn had been playing her and fishing for her intentions. He made her tip her hand, and now she had no claim at all.

"Aha, Natalie, Miss Claymor is much alive. I have her. I just wanted you to see the way they have been manipulating us. I wanted you seeing for yourself, within your own people, how deeply they have gotten into our camarillas." He sighed.

"Heather?" Natalie saw towards the blond living vamp in red leather.

"Master, I don't have the slightest idea of anything Jennifer just said. Someone must have hacked our system. I will do a full investigation." the blond said earnestly. Natalie pushed a button on the palm pilot, and we all could hear the short conversation with Jennifer, giving concise instructions regarding the hit. The voice was hers. However, the outrage and the surprise on Heather were legitimate. She had no memory at all of those facts. She was, for a moment, baffled, but she shook her head, denying any memory of the event.

"In addition, I just accessed the account to non recordable payments; the money for Jenny's fee was taken from it, as well the payments for the other four, Heather. You were taking care of that account. Nobody but you and I have access to it." Natalie said rather coldly. "Jenny, you have done nothing wrong, you were misled. I want you to stay with me on bodyguard duty, until I return to California." She addressed to the assassin.

"I'm honored, master." She nodded, getting on her feet. "Is Blanche dead for good?" she asked to Ivy.

"No. She is still undead as far as I know."

"Where is Blanche, Cormel?" the female master vamp asked.

"She's in Ivy's hospital bed, taking her place in the case of another hit. I needed a decoy to help keep Ivy safe; why risk one of mine, if I could risk an assassin another one sent to kill her?" he asked with his charismatic style, he even sounded humoristic.

"What do you want to release her to me?"

"You can have Blanche, after we have a long talk about these infiltrations and the ones responsible for them, Natalie. Regarding Miss Claymor, we can achieve a suitable arrangement, she is so important to you." He offered in control of himself and the situation, he knew better than get cocky with an elder Master Vamp.

"Deal, call your people, bring Blanche and Skimmer here."

"Fine." He used the cell phone.

"I swear to you, Master. I didn't do that!" Heather, the beautiful blond vamp in red leather, was very insulted now. And scared. Probably with good reasons, considering how Natalie was regarding her...

"Yes, you did. It just that you can't remember it." My big mouth opened. Rynn smiled at me. I was already pouring the contents of the spell pot in vials.

"Is she affected, Rachel?"

"Not as bad as Skimmer, but yes." I nodded, going to the fridge. "I would say she hasn't been bitten more than Paul and Mike. However, that's interesting, Rynn. It must mean that she only has to call them to put them under her curse. She was here; she must have arranged everything by phone. Or via a demon." I frowned serving a new glass with orange juice.

"What is she talking about, Cormel?" Natalie asked coldly, briefly taking her eyes off the squirming Heather. I went to give one vial of the healing potion to my vamp.

"Tastes like crap, but it will stop the bleeding, Ivy." I put the glass in front of her. She nodded, and drank the potion. After, she emptied the glass in one sip.

"Thanks." She murmured. I went for the wine to refill the glasses of the vamps.

"Thanks, dear. Well, Natalie. It's a long story…" Rynn began all the way back with the assault at the Tamwood State almost 10 months ago, when our babies were conceived. He enumerated the events that followed concisely, pointing out every frame that lead in the beginning to her. The Californian Master vamp listened attentively.

"And you did nothing to contact me?" Natalie asked.

"I know you're not the one behind the attacks, Natalie, Ivy was so sure you didn't do it in the beginning that I was very thorough looking for evidence. When I found it, then I was sure you didn't. You have survived during millennia; you wouldn't be still undead if you were that sloppy. Someone was trying to frame you." He shrugged his broad shoulders, looking as human as any human could look.

"My people came under attack as well. All of the evidence pointed to you."

"No, I haven't lifted a finger against you, Natalie. Don't think I don't know how to do things. The day I decide to, I will crush you." he smiled amused. "But we have common enemies, enemies that want you to kill me, or that I kill you. Moreover, they have infiltrated our camarillas very deeply. Heather is proof of this. That's why I kept Jennifer unharmed. For you to see in your own people how are they trying to manipulate us into a war against each other. I'm convinced I am the one they plan to kill first. They are expecting you to kill me. Then the second phase of their plans will begin; to bring you down as well." He spoke lightly, like if it was a casual issue.

"Who are 'they'?" the undead female asked, crossing a hand over the other femininely over the table.

"DeLavine is one, but he is small fish. The real mastermind is another Master vamp one older than you."

"Who?" She took her glass of wine and took a sip.

"I think you should know by yourself. Miss Claymor has been very close to the one behind it all. You asked why she stabbed Ivy. She didn't do it on her own; she was forced by her new, her real master."

"DeLavine is not strong enough to overpower my claim on Skimmer, Rynn! Who made a Scion of my Skimmer?" this time a strain of jealousy and anger leaked on her voice.

"No one has made a Scion of Miss Claymor; that would be at least a bit fair to her." Rynn said earnestly. Natalie frowned. "The European girl that DeLavine introduced to your child was no high-blood living vamp at all, it was Francesca Borgia in disguise." Rynn said knowing that Natalie was loosing her patience. However, even Natalie lost control for a moment, hate and anger glared at her eyes, and her lips formed a thin line colorless on her face. She positively hated Borgia. Rynn took the chance to add fuel to the fire. "She has been sleeping with Miss Claymor, as well as has biting her. She has total control on your child." The feral sense of possession and the desire for revenge she felt were overwhelming for a second, and her already obscure eyes turned all black for a split second. Then Natalie got her feelings under control and her face became a cold, unreadable alabaster mask once again. However, I could feel the boiling anger beneath the surface.

"Rachel discovered a very disturbing thing: Borgia has been using demons for thousands of years, that is no secret for other master vamps, but... Some demon curse has given her the ability to control living vampires by biting them, without making Scions of them. She can turn them into unknowing slaves. That means Borgia has also bitten Heather, just as she bit Paul and Mike and who knows how many more within my camarilla." Rynn continued his briefing, and I felt the turmoil on the mind of the Californian Master vamp. However, her face and façade remained cold.

"They don't know they work for Borgia. They don't remember a thing. Rachel only found out yesterday, at the hospital. She was cursed herself, to seem dead. And she was forced to use her second sight all the time to know what was happening around her. She saw stains on the aura of Paul, and she saw how Borgia ordered him to give Skimmer to the assassins. Paul has no memory of it, as Heather has no memory of having hired Jennifer and the others to kill Ivy and Skimmer, using your money to do it. If you had by some chance discovered the treason, you would have killed her and that was it. Rachel could see Miss Claymor stabbing Ivy, and Dorothy was crying, she tried to refuse and she couldn't. She didn't put up a fight against Ivy's sister because she was feeling devastated by her own actions." Rynn said concerned. "You have two witches with you; ask them to use their second sight to evaluate Heather. Paul is outside, in the street, they will see the same anomalies on his aura as well." He offered confident.

"Melissa, Isabella, please do so." Natalie said in an even voice, her eyes locked on me. I could feel her new evaluation of me, and the thought of what it might mean knocked what little wind I had left out of me. I went to pour myself some coffee; it wasn't the best idea after my stomach's gymnastic stunt, but coffee would give me some energy, at least temporarily, _Thank God for caffeine._

"That's Claire's car." Jenks said to me, he flew from the window to my shoulder.

"Who is this Claire?" Natalie asked.

"Ivy's doctor. Go get a check up, Ivy." Rynn said.

"Excuse me." She stood up, Robert got by her side and helped her; her legs were as shaky as I mine felt while I was cooking the potion. The dark eyes still were fixed on me. I took a sip of my mug. Somehow, she was trying to be-spell me. However, I was Ivy's Scion, my mind should be shielded against other vamps. I exchanged a look with Jenks and he went after Ivy.

"Girls?" Natalie asked.

"There are some faded stains on Heather's aura, as well as on one of the living male vampires across the street behind the cemetery, Natalie. It resembles the smut from a demon curse." one of them, the protective one answered. I frowned a bit. _Faded stains? There are like black flags all over them!"_ Then realization hit me, I had a reaper-enhanced second sight! I was especially sensitive to demon magic, because I was supposed to hunt demons. Maybe normal witches couldn't see the elemental fire after all... Damnit, I really had too many questions to ask Claire already, but now wasn't the time, regrettably.

"That must be Alan, with Blanche." Rynn said.

"How do you know Borgia is behind this?" Natalie asked, after a sip on her wine. "The witch told you?" she was still evaluating me like the perfect predator she was. "I had to say it. I have now some idea what Ivy saw in her. Ivy always had had a weakness, a weakness for power. At a glance, that little witch seems unable to perform the most basic spell. However, she was in physical distress, due to my pheromones, ─I must say I felt insulted by her reaction, I had never witnessed such a strong adverse reaction to pheromones. ─ and even so, she raised a circle from the distance, without the need to draw it, she controlled a swirl of Ley line energy around a crowded room... when she never took classes of Ley line magic in College and she didn't even finish a proper magical degree. She settled with earth magic, and yet she demonstrated such considerable skill. She made that potion, without any consultation from a book. That takes a lot of confidence in her own skills."

"Oh, yes! Hello, Natalie, it has been a long time! Good night to all." Claire's voice approached, she nodded with a friendly smile to the Californian master vamp, while she walked inside the kitchen with comfortable familiarity. "Hi, kiddo. What did you make Ivy to drink?" she asked entering the kitchen.

"Claire Britt!" Natalie saw at her a bit surprised. "You are a doctor now, of all things?"

"I have been a doctor during the past 40 years, Natalie. And Vet during the last 55, I wasn't making a career out of it, but I have the licenses to practice in this country, as well as in most European countries." She nodded. "I wasn't expecting to see you in Cincinnati. It's a pleasure, as always!" she made a little bow to her. I offered her a vial, clearing my throat to get her attention before she decided to hug the creepy bitch across the room from me. A little flustered that her mind had gone on such a tangent when she had been called her in response to Morgan's distress, she opened it and smelled the contents before putting the cap back on it. "Ok, it's the right one, how many doses you prepared?"

"Seven."

"Good, then I don't have to make more. She must have one in the morning too, and another tomorrow evening. After that, she should be fine. So, Morgan was having a tantrum?"

"I think it wasn't properly a tantrum, she was reacting like a vamp without sense of control. She is a baby, she felt attacked and she struck back without thinking she could hurt Ivy in the process." I sighed.

"How are you? Have even slept 7 hours?" Claire took my chin to examine my eye shadows, disapprobation clear on her face.

"No, Tammy wanted me all the time. So, I slept like 4 or 5 hours in naps of 1 and a half or two hours at the time." I shrugged my shoulders.

"I see. You have to sleep at least one night, kiddo! It's going to be difficult, Tammy is as possessive as Morgan, and Ivy is not well yet either. But you have your own pains too. I really hope things calm down for both of you." Satisfied, the older reaper finally turned her attention to the other occupants in the room, namely Natalie's protective detail, the twin witches catching her eye. "Ah, the Conner sisters."

"Do you know them, Claire?" Natalie frowned.

"Only their reputation." She shrugged her shoulders. "And I saw them when they were finishing College, I made the banquet to the party; like 30 years ago, they were brunettes at the time. Riley thought they were very promising witches." She took a mug and served herself some coffee. The female Master Vamp looked at her.

"So, you don't think they are very powerful witches now?"

"I know they are powerful witches, otherwise they wouldn't be with you, Natalie." Claire chuckled. "How are you?" she asked with familiarity, like if they were old friends.

"Well enough. Why did you have to move from California? I have missed you; no one can do banquets like yours, Claire." Natalie truly sounded like a human whining about the matter.

"I know, Natalie. But Olga died and I didn't want to leave Rena crying alone in a corner. It was quite a blow for my kid!" Claire sighed. "We took a trip to Europe, and I bought a place here from the distance. Then I brought her with me."

"Yes, I remember the impertinent child. What happened with that upstart alpha male?"

"She fought him off, it wasn't pretty. She has some scars for life." Claire frowned, her eyes got somber.

"I heard the pack no longer exists."

"Yes, it took some handsome bribes here and there, but I made sure the bastard would be an outcast forever." she shrugged her shoulders, and Natalie laughed.

"If you had told me, I would gladly have arranged that for you as a friendship token." the master vamp said confidently.

"I know you would have, Nat, but, your methods would have been more radical, and Rena would have felt bad about it when she learned. She still doesn't know what I did to that stupid kid! But if she finds out, she will only be mad at me for a week for intruding on her business; if I had told you, she probably would have never talked to me again. She is as proud as her mother was. Olga was a tough woman, and Rena is one too." she smiled, her affection for the young were clear as day on her face.

"Are you friends?" Rynn asked curious, hiding his unease. I could feel it though. That was getting weird. I was used to the feelings of Ivy by now, and we were fairly isolated for the past months; I hadn't noticed this empathy with such strength.

"You can say that, Rynn." Natalie smiled warmly. "Claire was in charge of every big event's catering I had for the past 15 years, until she moved out California. I came here with the intention of claiming Ivy Tamwood."

"Oh! Why? Tamwoods have been in Cincinnati since they arrived to America as far as I knew." Claire said curious.

"I was under the impression Rynn had killed my Skimmer."

"Ah, yes, the pretty blond Dorothy Claymor!" Claire nodded, with an inflexion of disapproval leaking in her voice.

"You never liked my Skimmer, Claire." Natalie reproached her lightly, like an old friend.

"She harassed my Rena; she was really bitchy at her with no more motive than her amusement. You have spoiled that little brat rotten, Natalie! I told you then you had to be stricter to her and getting her straight before she dived headfirst into real troubles, thinking herself untouchable. Now she tried to mess with the big boys, and she was damaged, maybe for life. Don't take offense Natalie, but two Skimmers put together are not half the value Ivy Tamwood has in her pinky." Claire said with her usual forwardness, I smiled, I couldn't help it, I thought the same, and Skimmer was nowhere near Ivy on any level.

"Ivy is a renegade, Claire."

"No, she never overstepped the limits vampire society is ruled by. She merely has a strong mind and a very clear vision of what she wants for herself. I know she can't be a white dove; she is a vamp, raised and molded under the thumb of one of the cruelest master vamps that ever had walked this earth. Piscary was infamous, Natalie." Claire sounded as she had known the bastard personally. Who knows, maybe she did. Rynn hid it, but he was very surprised by the familiarity those two were talking with. Not to mention, Claire was being unpleasant to the master vamp, and she didn't look afraid in the slightest.

"How do you know?"

"I have ears, Natalie. People never look to the cooks to talk about anything, and I have been around long time. I'm much older than I look, that's for sure." she chuckled, in good spirits.

"Yes, your papers said you born in England 145 years ago; you are an elder amongst witches." Natalie nodded. "And that's why you are getting away with the way you talk to me, Claire. I know you have seen many things along the way, but I have seen my share too. In which way was my Skimmer damaged?" she asked concerned.

"Demon curse. The only way of setting her free of the curse is an anti-curse, and that only can be provided by a demon, and not any demon. It's very complex demon magic, that kid is also contaminated, but not at the extreme level your little girl has been." She looked at Heather. "This one maybe can be cleaned up with very heavy earth magic, and some spiritual energy involved in the process. The curse barely touched her, but Dorothy!" Claire shook her head.

"You have seen my Skimmer?"

"Oh yes, she is asleep on the couch of the office since Rachel saved her from the assassins." Claire chuckled.

"How did she send a demon and not get a demon mark in the process?" One of the sisters asked directly to Claire.

"Ah, A bright question! How indeed?" Claire laughed amused. "There are witches and there are witches, child." she shrugged her shoulders.

"Meaning?" Natalie narrowed her eyes. Claire laughed again.

"Wits and guts." The old witch said laconically. "Ivy is dressing, Rachel, and dressing Tammy as well, the baby decided she was hungry and she changed to feed again, Rena is delighted, she never had seen a baby turning, well Tammy is a unique baby. Ivy is battered, literally. She can't be sitting or standing around too much; she needs lie down and rest at least one more day." She said in general, while Robert was coming again.

"Good luck trying to force her to lie down." I sighed "Tammy will want another bottle too." I went to the cooking stove to put the water to boil.

The master vamp and the witches were re-evaluating me again. Certainly, the events of the night had put me up as a worthy adversary in their eyes, but it was better that they not know I could turn into a demon or an undead vamp. If they knew that, I was dead witch walking all over again! Been there, done that... too often before. And with kids and a life partner in the balance... no, no way I was going there again.

"I want to see my Skimmer, Rynn. Now." Natalie said demanding.

"Ok, Robert, could you bring her, please? She is on holy ground." he said to Natalie. Alan came with Blanche. She was in a hospital robe and covered with a blanket. Jennifer went to wake her up with salt water. She surely would explain everything to her in very quiet voice, because the blonde looked at me with a frosty scowl but kept her mouth shut. Ivy came back with Tammy in her arms and the clean clothes of the blonde vamp in a cleaner's bag. She offered it to Jennifer. She also had a hanger with clean clothes of hers.

"You can dress in that room, it's not sanctified." She said. She now had black slacks, high heel shoes, and a black formal blouse with a black sweater over it. The two undead nodded and both went to dress.

Robert came back with Skimmer. He left her in Natalie's arms at a gesture of her. "How is she, girls?" she asked her witches. The horrified grimace on one was enough to know they could see the extensive contamination on her aura. She was in a conservative pajama, probably Cynthia's. My sister in law wasn't used to the cruel winters of Cinci, and she used very warm and very covering pajamas in here (suck it, Robbie, my girl is a nightgown addict, yours doesn't leave an inch of skin bare in bed! Ha!). Her face was cured, she was a High blooded vamp after all, I silently thanked heaven; Erica had roughed her up very hard, and she would herself the grudge of a master vamp if Skimmer still bore the bruises.

"She is cursed." the other one answered. "Her aura has smut for a lifetime."

"No, that's just from a heavy demon curse. Since Borgia has no soul, the smut from the curses passes to her victims." I said. "Dorothy has been bitten extensively by Borgia. Heather was maybe bitten once or twice, as Paul and Mike were, but that bitch really feasted on Dorothy." I said. Natalie's insides boiled with anger and hatred. "The connection she has with Borgia is too strong. Borgia can control her body against Skimmer's will; it was Borgia stabbing Ivy, not Skimmer. I saw it happen when I was paralyzed, and I could do nothing to stop it." I murmured between clenched teeth. "Skimmer tried to fight her, she couldn't" I looked at Natalie's eyes while I told her what I had already explained to Rynn earlier. "Awakening her is a danger. Because Borgia sees through her eyes, and hears through her ears. Anything Skimmer witnesses it's Borgia's instant knowledge. As far as I could see, Skimmer is now aware of the bonding. In order to talk to Skimmer and not let Borgia to know at the same time, we have to isolate Skimmer in some magical way." I continued. "I have an idea. I know is going to work. How do you want to handle this?"

"Letting Borgia know that we both are aware of her scheme could be a mistake, Natalie. She was the one attacking at Rachel yesterday, and Ivy, to cover her tracks; I know you have fought her twice in the past. I know she wants Cinci for herself, and when she settles here; then she is going to come after you again."

"Yes, it is her modus operandi. It's the first time I had a warning. What do you propose, witch?" she stared at me, a glimmer of... respect? In her eyes.

I explained my option, they both pondered the plan, and then they said it was ok, since Skimmer would not suffer any damage, well, a scratch, but nothing more.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, now we go to prepare the way in making friends and allies, not a topic I'm very good at but I will do my best. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

My gratitude goes to Natasha whom revised this chapter looking for my usual mistakes.

I know, It was too long, I have been busy, guys, and sometimes, I don't have the time or the energy to write. However, even if It takes me longer, I will continue this journey to its end. So be patient with me, please.

Thanks for the reviews, and to all still reading y drabbles.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

CHAPTER 24

I made a circle, and using spiritual energy I reinforced it from the inside and obscured it so that the appearance of the circle was opaque, the light came inside, but nothing could be seen from the inside. From the outside, the eyes of everyone were fixed on Skimmer, Ivy and me. I had my little baby with me; she was drinking her new bottle I didn't want her at the reach of Natalie, maybe the master vampire wouldn't hurt her, but I wasn't sure if Tammy would attack again, and I couldn't risk it, she would only behave herself in the arms of Ivy, or mine.

Taking a deep breath, I lifted the ley line charm I had put on the blonde petit vamp. Skimmer awoke immediately, but she remained still, staring at the top of the circle.

"You are supposed to be dead. I saw you dead." She said with a sleepy voice.

"Yes, well, I wasn't dead. She sent the demon to curse me. She wanted me to watch you killing Ivy." I shrugged my shoulders. I saw the interrogating glare Skimmer sent at me. I could read the clear question She who? I didn't want to start tossing the name Borgia around, all high vamps had to have at least an idea of who she was. In the end, after only a split second of hesitation, Skimmer decided it wasn't important at the moment.

"Where am I? Why am I not dead twice?" she stood up slowly, as if she hadn't heard what I said.

"In a safe place. But you're not going to leave this circle awake, Skimmer." Ivy said coldly, seated on a chair. I was occupying another chair just besides her. A third chair was placed in front of us, inside the circle, my circle was big, and had plenty of space inside. My vamp lover offered said the third chair to Skimmer with a hand gesture.

"Are you well?" Skimmer sat down doubtfully in the chair facing us both.

"I will be. My baby as well, that's one of the reasons you're still alive." Ivy said with a frown. "What happened? Why did you do it?" my vamp asked.

Skimmer clenched her jaws, but not in anger, anguish and disappointment were boiling inside her. Pain and fear because she was remembering the last minutes before the sleep charm. Remembering she had questioned asked clearly to the assassin's leader who sent them. And Jennifer had answered to her: Natalie. Skimmer knew her old Mistress wanted her dead twice. She knew she was doomed. Doomed by her first love, and the only protector she' had had in her life. That was killing her. Then she blinked, composing a straight face, a mask to hide her sorrow. She took a moment to assess the whole situation, and then her mask failed showing bafflement.

"Her voice is gone! I can't hear her anymore!" she let out in a murmur, too surprised.

"Only as long you are inside this circle. As long you are inside you are isolated from her. How many times has she bitten you?" Ivy asked. Skimmer's blue eyes went wide open in astonishment, and hope began to show on her face.

"You know about her?" Skimmer question was almost a plea for an affirmative answer.

"Now, yes. I wasn't sure when you were telling me about her yesterday."

"What do you know?" the blond vamp decided to go for information, she was a lawyer, and she surely knew how to stall things without given anything in return.

"Only as much as Rachel could guess, Rachel was cursed yesterday; a demon cursed her to seem dead. The curse was so good it even fooled the doctors and medical equipment. She was very much alive, and aware. However, Rachel was forced to use her second sight to know what was happening around her. She saw the woman with you, and the way she controlled your body to stab at me."

"Then you know I didn't want to hurt you?" Skimmer sighed relieved.

"Yes, that's the other reason you are not dead twice. Rachel saw you trying to resist her demands, and losing the battle against her. I know how difficult is resisting a master vamp is. But you are not her Scion. She cursed you. A demonic curse is upon you." Ivy explained slowly, carefully watching the reaction of the blonde vamp. Skimmer's shoulders sunk a bit, as she took assessing the words in. Her eyes seemed to dull and lose some of their blue, while her pupils expanded.

"That is preposterous, Ivy. What master vamp? Freya is a living vamp!" Skimmer said clearly, her eyebrows getting a bit closer, and her lips in a cute pout. _Why does she always have to play the cuteness card?_ I asked myself with a mental snarl. My baby had turned her head a bit to see at the blond vampire with a distinctive scowl formed in her delicate eyes and brows. She didn't stop pulling her tea in from the bottle I was supporting for her.

Ivy took the page she had printed a minute before I called her inside the circle. She had folded it and put it away in her robe pocket. She offered the piece of paper to Skimmer.

Skimmer took it and unfolded it to see the photograph of a painting. It was the portrait of a woman. The petit vampire blinked, recognizing the features in the woman painted a long time ago in a dress proper of Renaissance times. She was in a kind of throne, and showing her elegant form, with a tall and complicated braid in her black hair, with a tiara over the temples and forehead, the expression in her face careless and cold, the eyes however, showed her evil nature. The portrait, it was an exquisite oil painting. Precise, loving brush strokes had created a deep, dark atmospheric picture of a women sitting on that rich throne, proud and untouchable knowing she was above all mankind. Even through the internet print out, the eyes seemed to bore deep into your soul, the real painting was life sized and I hoped I never saw it. She was a beautiful young woman, but she was the epitome of all things I hated.

"Is this a very old ancestor of Freya? Skimmer asked to my vamp, confusion and worry thick in her voice.

"No, that is her, Skimmer. Raphael painted her in Italy a long time ago. That is the only known portrait of Francesca Borgia." Ivy said certain of the information. Tammy stopped drinking the bottle and kicked a bit towards her mother, the little foot succeeded in reaching Ivy's thigh almost joined with mine. Ivy smiled to her and took the tiny feet in one hand, she stroked the legs, and our daughter seemed to nod to her, pleased for her attention.

"No way!" Skimmer's eyes were wide open. She shook her head still in disbelief. "I know the difference between undead and living vampire blood, Ivy! Freya is a living vampire!"

"No. She is not. She even gave one of her past names to you." I sighed. "Don't you want more tea, sweetheart?" I asked Tammy softly. My baby looked for the rubber nipple again, and again her head turned a bit to see at Skimmer, while she continued struggling with Ivy's hand with both feet.

"Past names?"

"Please, when someone lives as long as they have lived, or more accurately have existed as an undead, they had have to change names once in a while to fit in the world of men. Before the Turn, people weren't aware of Inderlander existence, Claymor." I retorted confident. "Piscary had seven names; Natalie has six, even if she is almost as old as he was. Borgia has nine. Freya was one of them, several thousand years ago." I filled her in.

"Wait a minute, Natalie has more names?"

"She was Sophia in the beginning, in Greece." I nodded.

"How do you know that?" Skimmer scowled me.

"I'm a witch who was shunned, Dorothy. You saw me using a demon. Demons know the names of everybody; all their names, they collect them. Borgia is older than Natalie, therefore her mind is at least as strong as Natalie's mind is, if not a bit more, since at the very least she is 2 thousand years older than Natalie. She can make you believe whatever she wants you to believe. Furthermore, she has been dealing with demons since before Piscary was even born. Demons know her very well… Now, a demon made a special curse for her. One that allows her to control every living vampire she bites and she bit you a great deal of times in the last two months." I explained to her. She looked even more appalled than she was already. After some moments of heavy silence, while broken only by the slow and quiet bubbling noise from Tammy's bottle being sucked, Skimmer swallowed a knot in her throat noisily.

"That cannot be!" She said at last, her voice pleading, as her eyes were glaring between Ivy's eyes and mine as if hoping we would suddenly tell her we were only joking.

"She bit you a lot. Her bites are carrying the curse. She can control every living vampire that she bites. One session, and she can control them without them knowing. Her victims do whatever she wants and they don't remember a thing afterwards. It was the same in your case… you didn't know she was controlling you…until she messed up with your strongest beliefs and feelings. You are a well raised high blood vamp. So, the idea of you attacking on a pregnant vamp, or pregnant human, or a child, that goes against your deepest principles. At that point, you tried to refuse her, and she didn't try to convince you or make you unconscious of the actions. Instead she intruded in your body and did it herself." I continued instructing her on the way the events had occurred.

Skimmer took some uneasy breaths and finally nodded, acknowledging it to herself, it was the ugly truth.

"Francesca left you there to be killed, knowing nobody would listen or believe your explanations. She didn't count on me, she had already arranged that my body would be taken from the morgue and brought to her. Borgia wants to kill me personally, because I was the one who had discovered her moves against vampires in this country, or at least that's what she thought" I shook my head tiredly. My baby reached for a strand of my hair with one hand and she tangled her fingers on in it to pull clumsily, getting my attention again. "Be a good girl, sweetie" I kissed her hair, she sent a wave of mental giggles to me, and I couldn't avoid to smiling at her. "I love you, baby." I sighed again, in a better mood.

"Oh, God, it's amazing how she looks exactly like you, Ivy!" Skimmer sighed as well, focusing for a moment in the little witch in my arm. Ivy was still playing with her feet a bit absentmindedly. I knew this wasn't a comfortable situation for any of us.

"I'm her mother, it is simply logic that my baby has some family resemblance." my lover shrugged her shoulders.

"Borgia wanted to kill Ivy and our baby, as punishment to me. She wants me to know they are dead before her killings me." This time I was the one frowning as I explained the painful facts, I felt a bit off myself, a bit absentminded, this was not just painful for her. I really thought I would lose my Ivy and our baby vamp for a while, those hours during the surgical procedure, and after had been some of the worst of my life.

"Why? What have you done to her?" the blonde vampire looked at me resentfully, assuming all of this was my fault.

"I have been investigating on her, for reasons very different to the ones she thinks. I discovered she has an extensive library of rare books; that was my only interest in her. However, she thought I was researching on the vamp who stole the focus. Borgia was the one that brought the focus here, and allowed Nick to bring it into the light again. She wanted to start the quarrels, Skimmer. Francesca Borgia wants to destroy Rynn, and Natalie. They both are her primary targets. Now I know it. The pieces of the puzzle have fallen into the right place." I sighed, I was feeling really fed up with all of this vamp quarreling set up. The blue eyes of the lawyer vamp went wide open and then concern plastered upon her face.

"Did you never notice she was undead?" my lover asked somber.

Skimmer moved her head very slightly side to side, her eyes fixed on the floor. She looked at the floor with a tragic grimace as soon I said Natalie was one of her targets.

"She is a living vamp! I know the difference, Ivy." She frowned, still doubting my words.

"Skimmer, she was inside your head, you know you're not a Scion, you said it yourself her voice is in your mind." Ivy said softly. Skimmer shivered visibly, finally she nodded, defeated, acceptance making her shoulders slump even further. "Did the bond work both ways, could you hear things she didn't want you to hear?" my vamp asked earnestly.

"I can hear her voice, but I'm trapped inside myself." She shook her head.

"How many times did she bite you?" I asked. Skimmer clenched her jaws. "I'm asking because we need to know how it works." I said with a slightly exasperated puff in the end. "We have to figure out a way to set you free, Dorothy. Killing Borgia is not going to make the curse go away; you can end up bound to a demon. It's far worse than being bound to a vamp." I revealed concerned, I had witnessed enough of the ever after not to be concerned for the fate of anyone that could fall in the hands of the demons, I couldn't help myself, nobody deserved such a fate!

"You won't like the ever after, believe me. A demon would use you as a slave, or maybe he could sell you in the market, they trade in slaves, familiars, and souls. They can make you live for centuries, or even millennia, until you are drained and useless, then they will kill you and your owner will keep your soul on top of that. That's why dealing with demons is so dangerous. Death simply doesn't set you free." I explained sternly to her. She swallowed a knot in her throat once again. "How many times did she bite you?" I repeated.

"Many times, I didn't keep track, during the two months we were together, I think she bit me like at least three or four times each time we had a date. Freya never took much blood. I never felt weakened." She answered the question a bit embarrassedly.

"When was the last time she bit you?"

"Barely an hour before going to the hospital, that one was hard, I felt a little weak." She reckoned.

"Where did she bite you?" I asked, taking a good look with my second sight. "Ah, there it is." I focused my gaze on her chest. "The bite is still black under the skin. Maybe that was the one too many for you to fall completely under the curse. May I take a sample?" I asked.

"Sample?" the blue eyes narrowed and she seemed almost outraged.

"Yes, a sample. I have to make a little cut, and take some drops of blood from there. Maybe if we're lucky, we can identify the demon that did the curse for Borgia. It's a curse specially designed for Borgia and your soul has taken all the smut, we have to deal with that demon if we want to lift the curse on you and the others she had bitten." I let her know in a professional way.

"Ivy?" Skimmer saw looked at my partner a bit alarmed.

"She's the witch, Skimmer. Rachel knows what she's doing. I will finish giving Tammy her bottle, Rache." She offered. I left Tammy in her arms and searched in the pockets of my robe with both hands (It was actually one of Ivy's, and didn't matched my pajamas I knew it was naughty of me but I couldn't pass up any opportunity to wear Ivy's clothes). I showed her a pocketknife and a vial.

"Take it, you do the cut, I'll tell you how deep and where, you can take the blood yourself too." I left my palms open with the items on them; Skimmer took them both, her hands surprisingly steady for a person in her position. Shamelessly she opened the pajama top; she had beautiful breasts, full and perky, I tried not to look. I focused on the black marks. I guided her and she made the cut on top of her left breast, along the inside where it curved to meet the other, the bite was already healed. The blade didn't have to go more than a few millimeters inside the silky skin. She put the vial against the little wound to collect the blood. I gave her a clean patch of gauze to cover the little wound.

I felt the oddest thing when I received the smeared vial. I felt like a bolt running through my hand, directly under my skin, and a strong tingle on my side. As if I had made a connection with her. I frowned, looking at the vial, holding it up against the light, turning my head up. A realization hit me like a train. Barcharolloael was the one making the curse. I could free Skimmer if I wanted! But how? I had to consult with Claire. I couldn't blow my cover, and I couldn't let Natalie or Rynn knowing I could perform demon curses or anti-curses. My face showed nothing, but mild interest.

"Well, I have to put you to sleep again; you will be fed by IV while we find a way to free you from Borgia and the demon." I told her. "Believe me; we are going to do whatever is necessary to set you free."

"Wait a minute. DeLavine has called Cormel?" she asked Ivy.

"No, apparently DeLavine has an agreement with Borgia. He was the one attacking my line, Skimmer, as I already told you. Maybe telling you all that information; was the thing that unleashed her attack on Rachel and me, only hours after I told you, that demon attacked Rachel, and I thought I had lost her." The brown in her eyes shrunk in a split second. _Oh god, my beautiful vamp thinks it is her fault_, I reached out with my mind wrapping her in my embrace trying to reassure her. But she pushed my mind away gently.

"Rachel is blaming herself, for her research. However, I know if I hadn't told you, then Borgia wouldn't have felt threatened. She knew I was aware of DeLavine's plots. It was only a matter of time until we figured out her involvement too. I told you, Skimmer, you should talk to Natalie."

"Natalie wants me dead twice, Ivy. Didn't you hear Jennifer? Natalie wants you and me dead twice! And believe me, what Natalie wants, Natalie gets. Maybe your witch saved us this time. That won't happen again." Skimmer seemed so pained and depressed, and she wasn't faking it. I could feel her feelings. I reached out again for my vamp

"_Don't push me away, babe, you're not to blame, I thought I was going to lose you." _Ivy welcomed me into the warmth of her mind and I felt some of the tension leave my muscles.

"_I'm sorry, dear heart, I don't mean to push away I just don't feel like I deserve you. You nearly died because of me."_

"_Don't be silly, Borgia is the one that nearly killed us both"_

"Why are you that sure it was Natalie?" Ivy asked focusing on Skimmer instead of our private conversation; she was trying to hide something from me.

"Jennifer was clear, Ivy. Jennifer is the one Natalie gives the most secret assignments to. She has the trust of Natalie, even when she is undead. If Jenny said Natalie sent her, you can believe her. I'm sorry I dragged you into this. Maybe Cormel can bargain a way out for you, but I doubt he can. Once Natalie decides something, she goes through, no matter how difficult or painful it could be." She murmured full of grief, a tear running down her cheek.

"Natalie loves you, Skimmer. She funded your line; she has forgiven you for worse." Ivy said quietly.

"This time I went too far. I never realized she was the one that kept me safe, even from Piscary. I...I thought I could do whatever I wanted, just like you do."

"Skimmer, we are never free to do whatever we want to do, there's lines we cannot cross without a dear cost, I lost mom when I was rebellious as teen. It was my fault that Rica couldn't have her, as I did, know her as I did. I should have known better before letting Natalie bite me. I was a stupid girl. Piscary killed my mom on an impulse, when she was innocent. He should have killed me. But no, he punished me, my sister, and my father instead." Her silky voice sounded a bit harsh and that gave away the reason she felt so guilty and blue. She was remembering and she blamed herself for the reaction of Piscary when he found out she let the Californian Master vamp to bite her when she was a kid.

"_Honey, you were a kid, you didn't have a clue! Teen years is are about to learning and I' so sorry you had lost your mother, but that wasn't your fault at all., it was Piscary's, he let your parents send you there knowing Natalie had a grudge on him, and you were clueless about it! Please, stop blaming yourself, it was Piscary's doing, not yours." _I tried to comfort her. She allowed me to embrace her inside her mind.

"Maybe he regretted it later. Because that was the very moment he lost me, and he knew it. He tried to compensate me afterwards; that was the only reason he let me be, as far I was not crossing any other of his lines. The lines were there, but only he and I could see them." Ivy sounded bitter and pained. I could see she was remembering when Piscary had took taken her away from me, punishing her for loving me, and she agreed to go with him to protect me, I was so blind then! Ivy almost lost her mind only to protect me. I hugged her mentally again, tightly, trying to comfort her, and show her I was there for her.

"_I will never leave you again, babe! You and I are meant to be, and you were right all along the way, I really do kick myself everyday since we're together for having lost all that time!"_ Ivy recovered a bit, knowing I was hers at last, and we had a family now. She grabbed gently a playful hand of our baby, who was making noises to her, as if she was trying to comfort her as well. She Ivy left the empty baby bottle on the counter besides us. Her lips formed a tiny smile to our baby, before she gathered herself inside. Although she was suffering, her face never failed her to show coldness and anger instead of the pain and sorrow she was actually feeling.

"He was punishing me for loving Rachel when you were representing him in the trial and you saw it. You were also punishing me for loving Rachel as well. You were in on his part side as long you could have his leftovers. However, there will have been no leftovers after he had finished with me. When you saw that, it was too late, and you killed him, not for me, but for yourself, when you realized he was leaving you with nothing. It was a selfish impulse on your behalf, a revengeful one. I know you better that you know yourself Skimmer." Ivy now had a colder voice, no pain for that one, but no anger either. She was just enumerating facts.

"You were too confident Natalie will would save you. Natalie had let you get away with whatever you wanted. Although, face it, not even she could overlook the fact you killed a Master Vamp. No one from the other camarillas would forgive you for that. She has to play politics, as all of them do. You were safer in jail. She was protecting you there. Outside, her hands were tied." Ivy said coldly, she could hide her feelings as well as any vamp could. I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders, in a comforting way, she knew I loved her, and I was there for her, and I understood her.

"Now she wants to kill me, and you, Ivy. I'm sorry." Skimmer sobbed quietly. My baby witch was staring at her with a very distinctive scowl; though, on her baby face even that was cute. She had finished her bottle now and her little hand reached for me. I took her to help her burping, getting on my feet. This was painful for Skimmer, but also for Ivy. I already knew; it being responsible for the murder of her own mother, it was the most painful fact in her life, being responsible for the murder of her own mother; her hand touched me on the waist, her arm passed behind me, keeping me in place. "Why is she so important, Ivy? She is a witch! Why did Piscary want to kill her? Why does Borgia want to kill her? She is just an oblivious witch."

"Well, you can call it bad luck, karma, fate. I think she has an instinct. Rachel is always trying to help someone and we both know there are many people doing the exact opposite, so there will be always clashes against them. Rachel found out Piscary was the one killing witches, powerful or promising witches, to stop them working for Kalamack. One of Piscary's goals was the extermination of the elves. The elves are the only ones that could threaten the supremacy of vamps in the food chain. I don't know what he knew, but I can guess that Piscary thought Kalamack was getting somewhere; so he was trying to stop him, without affecting the political equilibrium. Killing Kalamack could have plenty of repercussions, so, Piscary was stalling his efforts. Rache crossed him when she discovered he was the one killing the witches. I was already in love with her by that time and that bothered him a great deal too." Ivy explained with only half-truths; it was better not to reveal the real reasons in front of Natalie. "As for Borgia, Rachel has already explained she was researching for a way to save my soul and wanted to have a look in her collection of books." Her arm tightened on my middle.

"But the damage was done already. Borgia knew about my little investigation, and took it in the wrong way, because she was the one arranging the resurgence of the focus. She didn't think that the focus would be in my hands at the last. That was a complete play of fate on her and me; I just was trying to help Jenks to find his son, and to help Nick. However, I ended with the focus in my hands and I kept it a secret as long as I could. Borgia was the one beginning the quarrels from a distance. She has her own agenda. I didn't have a clue until very recently." I returned our baby witch to Ivy's arms when she belched. Skimmers eyes followed our baby witch a frown on her face.

"How did you manage to do that? How you could impregnate Ivy?"

"I wish I knew! I was trying to save her life and soul. Now, it's time for you to sleep again."

"Wait!" She asked and suddenly she laughed. "Bunny slippers? Seriously, Ivy?" she seemed to notice my feet at last. "And you look like…"

I laughed, yes I laughed in real good spirits. She blinked, and the frown on Ivy faded and she looked at me a bit baffled. I used to snap at any sort of attack from Skimmer in the past. "Like troll crap, I know!" I shrugged my shoulders, moving my head affirmatively. "And I like wearing bunny slippers. I can even tell you I don't have a single sexy nightgown as well." I smiled to her. "I know very well what you're thinking: how it is possible that Ivy is with me? I wish I knew, Skimmer. I know I'm the exact opposite from Ivy and from you, but what can I say? Opposites attract each other?"

"Don't rub it in more, witch." She shook her head depressed again. "You said Borgia wants to destroy Natalie." Skimmer changed the subject, and she was genuinely interested and worried.

"Maybe, or maybe merely take her out of this continent. Natalie has fought with her in the past, Skimmer. Natalie wasn't born a vamp. She was human once, Borgia on the other hand was born a vampire, and a witch killed her once, since then, she has slaughtered more witches than anyone can count. Natalie had her realm established in Greece, her homeland. Natalie had to struggle a lot while she was aging as undead. Remember it were ancient times, the vampires had to be careful then, too many deaths alerted people, they have to look for big cities, and even big cities could be dangerous because there were other vampires also older than she was then, and stronger than she was. I figure it was much like nowadays to go upper the ladder of power, and finally she returned powerful enough to her homeland after a long time. Borgia is not Italian, she was born in a Viking tribe, her dominions were north in Europe. Everyone was happy until Borgia decided to move to more southern and warm lands. Natalie was around 2 thousand years old the first time she had a war with Borgia. Borgia was already using demons at that time, maybe for a millennium or three; that I don't know for sure. Well, Natalie had to change her home, she went to Persia, and she built another dominion for herself. Guess who decided Persia was a desirable home after a thousand years?" I asked her rhetorically.

"That cannot be! Natalie lost two wars against her?" Skimmer shook her head shocked by the news. To the blonde vampire Natalie was the most powerful Master Vamp, and knowing she wasn't able to win against another one was something hurting for her pride.

"No, there was one more. Natalie established in Europe again later, and Borgia decided she wanted her old home back. You have to understand, Skimmer, Borgia doesn't fight fairly. She uses other people to fight her wars: elves, weres, witches, vamps, and demons. She knits a web, she corners her prey, she does war psychologically too; she targeted you to wound Natalie's pride once more. You're not the first descendant of Natalie that Borgia killed, well, you're not dead, but she intended you to be dead. Natalie began a line in Greece. Borgia took her last descendant and killed her. That death was the undoing of Natalie then, she was so angry that she committed very expensive mistakes in the war. In Persia, Borgia did the same; Natalie didn't start another line until yours over a thousand years ago. She'd rather protected her line and came to America, leaving Europe to Borgia. She forfeited the war and let Borgia win to protect your ancestors, Skimmer. Third time wasn't a charm for Natalie." I sighed.

"Well, Borgia hasn't succeeded yet, Natalie was the one ordering my death this time, I hope this time Natalie kills her." Skimmer had a tragic look behind the revengeful one in the eyes. She truly wanted Natalie to win, for all her faults, Skimmer was loyal to Natalie.

"Borgia has a very distinctive modus operandi, Skimmer. She deceives and starts fights in one region and then when all the parties are weakened, she takes over, in a single strategic blow." Ivy said earnestly. "Here, the war hasn't been too big yet, she was trying to weaken everybody using the weres to reduce all the fighters, but Rachel got the focus. She kept it under the radar as much as she could, and now she has destroyed it and the weres aren't going to do her dirty job. Maybe she will retreat and think of other strategies, or she will risk it and try to start the war again. We can only wait and hope we can see the moves before she makes them." My lover shook her head.

"Now, it's time for you to sleep again." I decided, making the ley line sleepy charm, I caught her before she could fall to the floor from the chair. I carried her and broke my circle. Jennifer came to take her from my arms. Natalie was watching us with a displeased expression upon the flawless face.

"My Skimmer believes I want to kill her."

"I would believe it too if Rachel had died, Natalie. Borgia used your people. Everybody knows Jennifer is the most faithful member of the undead under your mastery." Ivy clarified her reasons not to tell Skimmer she didn't try to kill her. "But we cannot risk telling the truth to Skimmer, because we don't know if Borgia can reach her in some other way, and unfortunately Skimmer cannot avoid saying everything if Borgia asks to her, Borgia can control her." Ivy stated in a quiet but firm voice.

"I will take her with me. I will see that nobody can reach her. How do you plan to get her free, Rachel Morgan?" She asked me directly.

I was feeling terribly tired. This night had turned out to be a long one. The Californian Master Vamp was staring at me. I sighed. Ivy was becoming tenser, and I could feel her exhaustion and stress through our bond. I was numbed to fear, but she was fearful of Natalie's greed, that if I proved myself better than her witches did the master vamp would demand me as well. It was never good for undead vamps to find you interesting.

"Honestly, I don't know yet." I said pensive. "First, we have to find out who the demon designing the curse is. Claire seems to think the only way of lifting it, is to deal with that demon directly. Skimmer is not safe, if Borgia suspects she is alive, she can send a demon to finish her. If you have her, Borgia will know you are aware of her moves and plans." I put the vial with the sample on the counter.

"I will see that doesn't happen!" Natalie said deceitfully kind, she was undead and true kindness was beyond her. "I have a place in the city. I can stay there for a couple of days. Once you have finished what has to be done; Rynn would call me. You have to sleep so that you can think clearly. It looks like you're about to fall from exhaustion and I'm not letting you practice magic on my Skimmer when you are in anything less than top form. Besides Ivy needs some rest as well, you should be taking better care of your partner. Once I have certainty on Skimmer safety, then Rynn…" she turned her attention to the former president "… we can discuss a way to get rid of that bitch once for all. If DeLavine is her accomplice in this, he will pay dearly, maybe with his undead existence." The woman looked at him waiting for his answer, locking eyes with Natalie; Rynn smiled showing the hard white of his teeth and nodded slowly.

Natalie said her goodbyes, and she left the place with her beautiful bodyguards. Ivy sighed relieved; she didn't bother trying to hide it. Her dad did the same. Nevertheless, I was feeling something weird, as if Skimmer was still near, but at the same time not. The connection I felt when her blood stained my fingers was still sending shivers down my spine. Ivy hugged me, carrying our now asleep baby in one arm, I leaned my head on her shoulder. This could be very problematic. Rynn exchanged a concerned look with Kimberly then he used his cell phone and ordered doubling the guards outside the church doubled with undead vamps, he didn´t trust Natalie, that was a clear issue. Erica came in the kitchen and hugged her parents; the kid was a bit afraid still.

"Are you ok?" my sweet vamp asked me quietly, her breath warm and gentle as she whispered in my ear, a futile attempt of at privacy. Still I appreciated that she tried and I liked having her speak to me like this it seemed intimate and private even if it wasn't. Almost everybody except the witches could hear her.

"I'm dizzy." I sighed.

"You used too much spiritual energy, kiddo." Claire said in the archway, it seemed I was wrong - even the witches could hear. "You better eat something and then go to bed, and you too Ivy. You need to sleep at least 12 more hours to get better, the virus is still acting, it will cure the damages Morgan made in a matter of hours, but you need to rest." She warned Ivy sternly.

"That's true, you have an empty stomach, and you haven't slept more than a few hours in four days." Ivy's embrace tightened on me. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect this."

"None of us was expecting this, Ivy." Rynn said without hiding his worry. "At least we know the virus was Piscary's, he and Natalie were close to age. Natalie's claim didn't work."

"Thank God!" I sighed again, I moved letting Ivy go. She frowned a bit until she saw me taking things out of the fridge. "However, she wants Skimmer safe before making any deal with you. And that's not easy." I took a bread bag to begin making a sandwich. Ivy came by my side to see what I was up to. I think if she had been feeling better I would have found myself being picked up and dragged off to bed. "Do you want a sandwich, honey?" I offered.

"Yes, please, dear. Tammy is asleep already. I'm going to put her in bed."

"Ok. She is tired. Making magic being so young drained her." It worried me that she would try something too big and end up passing out in the middle of a spell. Misfired magic is dangerous to everyone but especially to the caster, I didn't want my baby hurt.

"But she is fine. She will want to eat again in few hours." Claire came too. "Where did you put the sample you took from Dorothy?" She asked me. I looked at the island with the vial lying on it. Claire took the vial and stared at it interested. "Are you planning on do a summoning using the connection the demon left?" she asked me. "That is advanced magic, kiddo."

"I know. I have read a possible spell in one of my books."

"I know three, but this kind of curse…" she slightly shook the head. "…I know the one who made it was a higher demon, traders aren't that skilled. I will put it in the cabinet." She opened the one in which I stored my amulets in. I nodded.

"Thanks, Claire. Do you think Ivy is going to be all right? And Morgan?"

"Yes, Kiddo, they will be fine. That virus is working as we speak. If Ivy sleeps, it will work faster. Let me help you." She washed her hands and came to my side. "Natalie is fishing; I cannot blame her for wanting Ivy in her camarilla. And now that Morgan has proved to be a vamp like no other, she will want her too." The old cook brows creased a bit, while she was getting the grill over the stove ready. "Natalie is very patient. I heard enough to know she has to go back empty handed now; she has her brat already. You have to move carefully, Mr. Cormel."

"I thought Natalie was your friend, Miss Britt." Rynn said casually.

"A social friend, I even can say I really appreciate her; she is bright. But she must be exceptionally angry to make a move that weak. Believe me, DeLavine is going to wish he was dead twice long before she'll let him die. His intervention made Natalie look a fool in front of you. Another thing – the Conner sisters, maybe they are shadows, but they are a dreadful team of witches, and be sure they don't like you, kiddo."

"The sentiment is mutual, Claire." I chuckled humourless.

"I don't think Natalie is going to risk her witches, Rache. She proposes you to lift the curse on Skimmer at your own risk." Claire said taking the sandwiches and putting them on the grill. "And to lift a curse like that…" she shook her head once more, concerned. "…No demon will require less than he is losing, a soul and a body. The demon can claim Skimmer as she is now. Borgia was being merciful condemning her to die. With that curse upon her…" the old witch sighed, in a defeated way. "…the demon can claim her and make a slave of her. Slave, and not familiar, vamps do not make good familiars. Even humans can be familiars, but vamps are not fit to channel ley line energy, it is possible, but Skimmer faces the worst destiny in ever after. I don't like the kid, but that is a dreadful fate that I wouldn't wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy." she sighed. Ivy hugged me from behind, possessively making me jump slightly; I hadn't realized she was back from putting Tammy to bed. I was still making more sandwiches. "But why tell her that raw truth? The reality is nobody can save Dorothy without risking at least one or two lives." The old cook said convinced.

"You're not going to risk your life!" my vamp ordered me quietly. "Skimmer is the responsibility of Natalie, not ours. She was the one sending her to the hands of her enemies." she chewed the words a little bitterly. My vamp still cared for skimmer, she had been in love with her after all, and love always leaves a mark on you never really leaving entirely.

"Ivy is right, Rachel. You are not going to risk your life, not for Skimmer. You are in no shape for any stunts." Rynn nodded emphatically. "If Natalie does not like it, it's alright. We will suffice to stand against Borgia" he said with a thoughtful expression. Surely, he didn't want Natalie close to Ivy, or me. He said good-bye at last, but Kimberly and Robert stayed with Erica. Mom came, and so did Cynthia and my entire pack, with Renata.

"Why did Natalie come here?" Kimberly asked Ivy.

"I wish I know the answer, mom. You already know what happened when I was 16. Since that time, I've only seen Natalie twice, at parties, and you were there both times." She sighed, taking a sandwich. "I was afraid at first that she was using me as an excuse to start the war against Rynn. Moreover, she still can do it. She will know that Skimmer is already forfeit to a demon."

"Anyway, you should eat and then go to bed." Claire repeated. We walked hand in hand back to our room to get ready for bed while Claire stayed talking to Mom and Kimberly in the kitchen.

Ivy waited until I left the shower. She was pretending to read a magazine. I put a set of pajamas on, taking my time as I felt Ivy's eyes roaming over my exposed flesh. As I walked to the bed, Ivy lifted the blanket for me. I hugged her the moment I joined her between the cool silk sheets.

"God, I missed you so much." She whispered in my ear.

"I missed you too, babe." I nuzzled against her neck. In fact, even when the night before was wonderful, as we shared the most savage sex, and passionate lovemaking we had ever made. Not to mention the biting, God, biting was so good, so exciting. I had sincerely missed this closeness the most, just being in her arms and cuddling, knowing we were there for each other.

"I'm sorry, dear heart."

"It's not your fault, Ivy." I sighed, filling my lungs with her scent. "You better try to sleep, honey, Morgan really was rough on you." I caressed her belly. "And Tammy is going to wake up hungry in no time."

"I know." She sighed as well. "Well, Mom and Dad just left, with Rica." Vamp hearing was so very useful. "And Claire and Renata are saying good bye as well."

I fell asleep almost against my will; Ivy just found a comfortable way to sleep slightly on me, her head next to mine, with one arm over my waist and her leg over my thighs. I wasn't sure how much I had slept, but suddenly a cramping pain I knew woke me up. Ivy woke up as well, as I tensed.

"What is it, Rache?" She asked me fear clearing away the sleep from her voice.

"Someone is summoning me. Please, make Cynthia or Mom summoning me back. My books are in the belfry!" I said hastily as I felt the magic snatching me from my bed and from my lover's warm arms. I could see the concern and the fear in her eyes as they turned to black. The magic had me and try as I might I couldn't resist, my body and soul slipped into the line and away from my home.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. Well, now we go to see who the summoner is. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly, please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Thanks for the reviews, and for the delay on this one I apologize, my muse seemed to want some vacation and deserted me for a while. I will try to update sooner, but I can't make any promises, my ideas are flowing too slowly lately.

Gracias, exkalita, por tus comentarios. Voy a tratar de actualizar pronto, pero no puedo hacer promesas, esto está saliendo mucho más lentamente que en un principio. Pero te aseguro que voy a terminar esta historia.

Once more, my gratitude to Natasha, she took the time to check my spelling and my confusing way to say the things. Any mistakes still remaining are entirely my fault.

CHAPTER 25

Traveling the lines was never pleasant, but traveling forced by magic was even worst. I managed to calm down in the few seconds I had. I knew Ivy would do anything to convince my mother to summon me back. I didn't know who was summoning me. And I had a surprise or two in my sleeve. So I decided to go misty as soon as I arrived into a dark room. Not allowing my summoner to know I was already there.

This time, I could feel the spell working. It was so natural and fast to cast it. It was almost an unconscious reflex I had inherited from Barcharolloael and I turned into that gaseous state with my sole wish to do it; that was the reason I almost forgot it was a spell demons used to be safe. I was inside a circle, in a big room. There was a table littered with things to do use in spell casting. Looking around the room slowly I saw two figures standing off to each side. They were Natalie's twin witches, I felt angry. I had told Natalie I would do my best to help Skimmer. Why in the Turn she made her witches do a summoning of the demon who cursed her favorite child?

I recognized the gauze I had given to Skimmer to stop the bleeding when she took the blood sample. Of course, the tainted gauze had the same contaminated blood. Now I was sure. Barcharolloael was the one making the curse for Borgia, and he had a claim on Skimmer's soul. _Or have I the claim_? The front of my mind wondered annoyingly- _No time to divagate now, Morgan, focus!_ The back of my mind chastised me right away.

_Ok, this is the situation: they are calling the demon making the curse on Skimmer. And I knew the demon itself, and I have his remains inside me. I can take his form._ It was the best thing to do in this situation. I found the way to turn into Barcharolloael. It must be very close to sunrise. I wouldn't disappear with the sun. I wasn't a demon, and that would blow my cover. I had to think and think quickly. _Maybe if I refuse any offer?_ I decided to go solid, and when I formed my copy of the demon's form; another demon appeared just besides me.

"Rollo! Where have you been?" he exclaimed with a frown. I scowled at him and turned to see the twin witches. The new demon did the same. "Ah, the Conner sisters, Isabella Marie Conner, Melissa Katharine Conner, you are playing with fire!" he transformed into an elegant but mean old lady. Both witches trembled. "I still have the soul of your grandmother." he cackled.

I could learn by the haunting mockery of the demon towards them that their grandmother used the demon to marry a witch heir, and then to kill him when he left as the curse wore out. After that, she used him again to arrange the twin's mother marriage to another witchy heir. "And for what did I forfeit my soul? For you two to become shadows of a vamp!" the demon reproached the witches, still in the form of their grandmother.

"Enough, Zarthimeatreal!" at last Melissa, the stronger one, gathered herself to command. "You two have put a curse upon Dorothy Claymor." She said coldly

"Ah! Business." the demon changed from the grandmother to a modern playboy, in an Armani suit, sunglasses, short blond hair, and attractive features. "Do you know where Dorothy Eloise Claymor is? I have a claim on her body and soul. She is already mine. Ah!" He lifted the gauze with the dried blood on it. "So, her old mistress has her. No problem, I can claim her with this. Thanks to you both, witches. You know you are unable to protect her, she will be mine." He put the gauze inside his pocket.

"What do you want in exchange for letting her free?" the stronger one, the one in the offensive always talked again, impatiently.

"Wait, Melissa. What about the other demon? They both have a claim on her." the protective one said (It had to be Isabella), touching her shoulder shyly. Zarthimeatreal laughed.

"Barcharolloael and I have an arrangement. He already has ceded his rights on Dorothy Eloise Claymor to me."

"Well, they have given us valuable information only by doing this summoning. I was under the impression Rachel Mariana Morgan had Dorothy Eloise Claymor" I said indifferently.

"You traitor!" the other demon scowled me. "You are in deals with that witch. Therefore, it was part of a plan to keep them both. You choose to have the first shot at that witch." He accused me. A feeling of suspicion and betrayal hit me clearly on his behalf. I crossed my arms, and clenched my jaws, offended. I haven't the slightest clue of the behavior Rollo would take, and that demon could notice if something wasn't right. Then, he blinked behind the sunglasses and smiled snidely.

"We thought you have had failed. Now, I see you were only were trying to earn the trust of the witch. Now I see you kept my slave alive. I shouldn't have doubted on you, Rollo!" he smiled more frankly. "I can recover the slave for the house. And now we know Natalie is talking to Cormel, or else she wouldn't have the living vamp." he nodded. "You have always been brilliant, Rollo." he complimented me. I was feeling that strange empathy with the demon as well, I was receiving a lot from his feelings, and he loved Rollo in a way. Besides, by the way he said 'the house'. _Damn! They shared that house! These two are lovers. That's why they work together. If he touches me, then he' would know I'm not Rollo._ I controlled my fear, I had to, Demons lived out of the fears of everybody, and they always pick them out in the air.

"We own the living vamp. She is already yours, as we agreed. But Rachel Mariana Morgan is still mine!" I said in a harsh tone. He pouted and it was a very cutely pout for a man.

"Come on, Rollo! I can help you. Just tell me, and then we can make a better deal."

"Maeve is not going to decide how to do this, I will." I warned him.

"Minias..." he shut up, when a feeling and an image from the supposed dead demon- as far as I knew, Newt had killed Minias - came to my mind from the demon. He seemed afraid and I felt his fear long after his facial expression became cool again. I didn't have time to think why not only could I feel his feelings, but now I had images as well, as if I was reading pieces of his mind. A creepy thought that only lasted a fraction of a second; the news were too disturbing on its own to dwell on more possible reaper abilities I didn't know I had now. _Minias is not dead! Damn. If he's not dead, then he has nothing to lose, and…Maybe that's why Al hasn't coming come to bother me. Demons are fighting with each other. _

"I feared for a moment you got..." a murdering image came to my mind this time while the demon said to me, yes, this demon was lover of the one I killed yesterday. Moreover, demons were in war just as vamps were. So the disappearing of several demons hadn't been as closely investigated, as they should have been. _Am I not the luckiest witch on the world, or what?_

"Sorry!" he made a placating gesture before my angry face of Rollo. "Well, I will be willing to left Dorothy Eloise Claymor slip through my fingers, only if you two are capable of delivering to me Rachel Mariana Morgan and it will only will cost you two marks each." He looked at the twin witches. I couldn't even protest. I felt the new summoning then. "Rollo?" he saw at me.

"Someone else is summoning me. Don't leave me out of this." I ordered. To my deepest concern, something in his eyes told me he would do the deal. The witches seemed terrified as they had the mental order from her mistress, two marks each wasn't that big deal for Natalie, even when the both of them were terrified with such an outrageous prize. It would be Natalie doing the deal, not them.

"Sorry, Rollo, the sooner we finish this, the better!" he chuckled. "You had your shot, now it's my turn!" he stated amused when I was unable to fight the magic luring me out of there in the worst possible moment.

I appeared in my kitchen, with a very pale Cynthia in front of me. Mom was the one making the circle. My sister in law had an anguished and frightened expression.

"Rache?" Jenks asked, from Ivy's shoulder. She was more comfortable now having him on her, he used to do that only with me, but lately, I wasn't me much of the time.

"Yes." I turned back into myself. "The Conner sisters were the ones making the summoning, and there is another demon in the deal." I sighed. "They are double crossing me!" I frowned. Mom cut the circle. "Thanks." I forced a smile. "I don't know for sure. It seems like Natalie had decided Skimmer's safety is more important to her. So, whatever they are planning to do, it will be a trap for me. The other demon asked them to deliver me in exchange for Skimmer." Ivy hugged me tightly, and I did the same. I grabbed firmly the shoulder of Mom when she came close to touch me, relieved. I knew she was shaken, she had never summoned a demon before, and surely she never thought of herself doing it.

Some of my books were in the counter, and it was Cynthia the one guiding her, she had fresh in the memory the College classes on magic.

"How is that you have that weird summoning name? I thought only demons could be summoned!" Cynthia said. "Jariathjackjunisjumoke?"

"Jenks can tell you that story, Cynthia. The truth, and this is very confidential and cannot go into your family chronicles, when they were treating my disease as child, they tampered illegally with my DNA. I don't know what they did to me, but they turned me into a protodemon, which means, they unleashed certain characteristics into my blood, making me resistant to Rosewood syndrome, but at the same time, they give me the capability of procreating demons. Not many know about this. If I would have a child, that child would be a demon. That's why I cannot have children on my own, mom." I said frankly, barely looking at her as I was nuzzling onto Ivy's shoulder. That haunted me for a while; I was resigned to never have an heir, now I had Tammy, thanks to Ivy. Now I was a reaper and no demon could touch me without consequences. Things had arranged themselves in a very twisted way but I was fine with it.

"Some demons know it, and some of them want me for the obvious reason. However, we should rest a bit." I shook my head. Cynthia's curiosity was greedy and she must be very close to my mother to have heard the name, or Jenks had shouted it to my mother, I didn't know. But my gut told me I could rely on her with such a big secret as this was. She was as terrified as my mother knowing this awful truth about me, and then I could feel her sorrow, and her concern, and the pain inside Mom.

"Ah, Ivy, I think Tammy is hungry again." Cali said with my baby in one arm. David, Serena and Cali were in the archway.

"I'm coming, baby." Ivy nodded. "Thanks, Alice. I'm sorry I have frightened you and Cynthia so much." a pink shade came to her cheeks

"It wasn't you, sweetie. I never thought of myself doing a summoning. It's easier than I thought!" Mom said still a bit shaky and my sister in law nodded almost enthusiastically.

"But more dangerous than you can imagine!" I hugged her quickly. "Please, don't tell Robbie about this, things are difficult as they are. He will be already really mad at me for the dying stunt." I asked concerned, I didn't want more of my brother's cute way of demonstrating he was worried about me. He wasn't as liberal as Mom and his wife about a lot of things.

"Don't worry. It's too hard as it is, and it is not your fault." she nodded, Cynthia mirrored the gesture.

"Guys, I'm sorry." I saw at my pack.

"You have so much on your hands. Now, I can understand how you were so oblivious to the pack." Serena hugged me. "But you have babies with Ivy and they are not demons." She comforted me.

"Thank God!" I nodded, hugging her back, weres were touchy by nature. They needed physical contact to be calm and sated. And I was her alpha bitch; I had to fulfill that need of closeness and physical support. It was one of my duties as alpha bitch of a pack, and I wasn't neglecting them when I was aware of their needs. David and I had a chat about it.

"You say Natalie is going to double cross you?" David said worried.

"The demon asked the sisters to deliver me to him, in exchange for Skimmer." I nodded to my alpha male. "Then I was summoned back here. I think we have to sleep a bit. I'm sorry for keeping you awake this much."

"Cyn is right; one cannot be bored with you around, Rachel!" Cali hugged me too, as soon she left Tammy in Ivy's arms.

"We have to do something." Ivy sighed. "Maybe we could call Rynn and let him know." She mused aloud.

"And how do we explain to him where and how I got the info?" I looked at her between the fierce hugs of my girl female pack members. "I'm thinking already on a way of getting out, honey, don't worry."

"Go to bed. Seriously, you need to sleep. It's almost sunrise. We will think of something after a proper rest." Ivy said with a sigh.

"I will, honey, just as soon as Tammy goes to sleep again." I agreed. Mom was worried, and so was my pack, and Cynthia. We put Tammy in her cradle and then we went to bed. I fell asleep again as soon as Ivy stopped moving against me, holding her arms tight around me.

Ivy moved me softly by the shoulder. I just moved face down to the pillow groaning until I heard the mental claim, and felt the clumsy tugging in my hair.

"Tammy?" I asked moving a bit away from the soft comfort of my pillow, I heard the demanding little baby noises. Ivy had her securely cradled on her arm.

"She wants you to give her the bottle, I have tried, dear heart." Ivy said quietly. "I know you need the sleep."

"It's Ok, babe." I moved sleepily. "Hi, little one!" I greeted my baby witch; she waved her arm at me. "I'm coming, sweetheart." I chuckled quietly my voice still hoarse from the sleep, whilst I got into a sitting position, with my back against the bed board. "Ready. Come here, baby." Ivy put her in my arms, and I kissed my sweet vamp in the cheek. "What time is it, honey?" I asked.

"It's barely passed noon." She kissed my ear, then, I nuzzled Tammy's middle, letting her to tangle her small hands in my hair, while she was giggling and making baby talk pleased by the attention.

"Who's my baby?" I asked her playfully and the tiny witch giggled. Ivy gave me the bottle. "Here it comes." I warned her, and she took the rubber nipple to pull the tea. Ivy hugged me by the shoulders, setting herself seating against the bed board besides me. I leaned my head on hers. "Did you sleep a bit?"

"Yes, dear heart. Tammy didn't wake up until 20 minutes ago. I feel a lot better, and Morgan hasn't been too active, maybe she is exhausted as well from her outburst." Ivy kissed my neck and caressed the already rebellious curls of our daughter.

"Mmmh, hey, Tammy, how's little sis doing?" I asked my witch baby, focusing on our bond. She focused as well. Morgan seemed to be calmed, and sleeping. I let Ivy join us in the bond and we shared our feelings for few minutes, in a content silence. I loved being this close to Ivy and our babies; I couldn't believe that the thought of being so tightly bound to Ivy had scared me in a time. Moments like this gave me strength, I had my beautiful family now and this was what I was fighting for.

Mom entered our bedroom after two little knocks, with the things for changing diapers.

"Hi, sweetie!" she greeted although she seemed sad.

"Hi, mom. I'm sorry for the fright of last night." I said quietly. Tammy turned a bit to see Mom, she still was in her night robe, and slippers, but she already had combed her hair.

"Sincerely, sweetheart, I hadn't a clue of the damage they were doing to you, and…" She sat at my free side.

"Mom, you wanted me to live. I understand, and it wasn't your fault. They were lying to you, and Dad. You didn't know and I'm sure even they didn't know what they were doing, they were just experimenting. I would do anything for my babies too! Now, I have babies, and they are not demons. Things turned out fine." I cajoled her. She hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"She is so beautiful, honey. Yes, you are!" she left a hand between the hands of Tammy and my baby grabbed it fiercely, as if she proposed to comfort her too. "I can hardly wait to hold Morgan as well." Mom sighed.

"Just four more months and she will be here." I kissed Ivy's cheek again. "How are you feeling?"

"Worried. Rynn hasn't called yet, but you said the witches were dealing with the demon, that means, they are not going to tell him they are betraying us." She whispered with a frown.

"Well, honey, I'm going to cook something just coming into my head while I was asleep, I need the kitchen a while, so, you better order some food from Tony's or Mario's" I sighed. "I just have a hunch." I smiled a tiny smile, something inside me already preparing to act.

"May I come in?" Jenks asked from the crack Mom left open in the door.

"Sure, Jenks!" Ivy nodded the pixie came flew inside flying and landed on my Mom's shoulder.

"How are you two today?" he asked us

"Better, Jenks, Sorry for the late night." I said again.

"This would be boring without your little problems, Rache!" he laughed. "I heard you have to cook."

"Yes, I have to cook. And you, Ivy are going to phone Rynn to tell him I have a way to save Skimmer, tonight, early, maybe at 8, no, better 7:30, I can't let them have much time to summon the demon and risk having him spying on me. Make sure the appointment with Natalie takes place in here, where I'm already familiarized with everything, if the demon comes, and then he will find an unpleasant surprise waiting for him. Maybe I cannot kill him in front of the undead vamps, but I can be mean if I have to be." I said with a devilish smile. Ivy kissed my ear after a quick nod. She began to be comfortable with my mean side; maybe she loved my mean side more than she would admit out loud.

"_What are you planning, dear heart?" _I heard the mental voice of Ivy. My lover was an expert at making plans.

"_I let you know, privately, for now, let me take a shower and we will share everything_." I promised her and she kissed my temple.

"Oh my! More action?" Cynthia blinked in the door. "Really, Rache, you have to calm down!" she complained, she had shadows in the eyes, because the late night and the adrenaline rush she suffered.

"I know, Cyn. I know! But now, I'm only reacting to the circumstances. And…" I said turning my attention fully to the squirming bundle in my arms "… you have to be a good baby and not crying, because you're going to remain on holy ground the entire time, my little rushing witchy tornado." I said to my baby. Tammy stared at me with her big blue eyes, without leaving the bottle, yet. "Yes, you have to be a good baby and not change into a wolf, if you change, Auntie Cali is going to give you a full lesson on good Were behavior." I warned her.

Ivy made the call to Rynn. She told him I was very busy cooking the necessary spells for my plan to get Skimmer safe from the curse. Therefore, the meeting had to be in here, because I had prepared the place. Rynn had a hard time convincing Natalie, and preparing a whole little army of bodyguards to protect the church again. This time he wouldn't be unprotected. He would have the same amount of bodyguards as Natalie inside with him.

Ivy and I had extensively talked in our minds about the plans. Nobody could know about my little reaper secret, so, I had to go theatrical on all of the witnesses, the plan was risky, but if it worked, then Skimmer would be safe, and the alliance with Natalie could survive, even if neither of us could trust in her never again. But Borgia was a bigger evil, and regrettably we needed Natalie and her camarilla to take her down.

I passed hours making potions and spells for the big show, I was expecting attacks from the witches, and even from the vampires, so, I made some extra circles, invisible to the naked eye, but very visible to my reaper enhanced second sight. I had to make sure my Ivy and my babies, as well my family and friends would be safe.

Erica was on holy ground before the undead Masters arrived, she had gone shopping and came earlier into the church with some clothing bags full of things for our daughter, and she brought as well a lot of sweets for snacking, weres ate almost as much as vamps, because of their fast metabolism.

Ivy came to the kitchen in a kind of suit, trousers and jacket in black, but on her, it looked sexy, with high heels, she didn't look pregnant at all, the same as when I had just awakened from the coma, I could eat her head to toes. She smiled slyly at me when she picked up my thoughts of me ripping off her the clothes from her. Her hair was in a pixie made braid that Jenks' kids had done and I was looking forward to let running my hands through her silken ebony hair while I undid the braid later.

I was still cooking when Natalie arrived, Rynn had decided to meet her outside and then come in. Skimmer was in the arms of undead Blanche. Kimberly also had come with Robert. They were outside with Rynn, expecting the guests.

"_Is it show time already, babe?_" I asked my lover in the privacy of our bound minds.

"_Yes, good luck, and don't push it so much, Ok?_"

I just nodded from the stove, where I was still making a final potion.

Ivy opened the kitchen door for them. If Ivy was properly dressed, I however was in jeans, and in a long sleeved blouse with the sleeves folded up to the elbows, I was definitely underdressed. My kitchen smelt strongly of redwood due to the spells, I barely had time to clean the place before starting the final potion, but I was still stirring it.

Natalie entered first, her bodyguards spreading out over the room, just like the day before. Heather, the blond living vamp that was affected for Borgia's curse and hired the assassins to kill Skimmer and Ivy, wasn't with them, neither was one of the brunette living vamps that came yesterday. However, Undead Jennifer and undead Blanche –said assassins; were with her. So she still had two blondes and two brunette bodyguards, and now two were as undead as Rynn, so they were far more dangerous and stronger than living vampires, maybe the other living brunette one was guarding Heather in their city accommodations. Surely Natalie liked some balance around her, and all beautiful women as well. All of them in leather looking dangerous and ravishing. For the uninformed people, the bodyguards would draw all the attention, leaving the most dangerous of all with a non- threatening label on. Big mistake. Natalie was the one in whom the attention must be focused.

As the day before, Natalie was showing her impeccable taste and the fashion sense of a very high class woman. She was wearing designer clothes in black head to toe, with astonishing but at the same time discrete jewelry. All of which was unable to rob all the attention from the dark eyes and the red mouth, and the beautifully braided hair.

Rynn was looking good with his three piece expensive suit from a European designer as well, shoes so shiny and clean that you could see your reflection on the black leather surface. The most tasteful tie rested against his chest in perfect combination with the shirt and suit. His hair was a perfect mix of black and few strands of white over the temples, he looked as impeccable as Natalie's, in a very clean and manly way. He was a player for sure. His bodyguards were all male, and dressed with leather jackets and formal trousers all in black, all serious and focused. Every one took a place just beside their female counterparts, and all of them seemed so big and muscular. All of them with very short dark hair, like if it was a dress code for being with this close to Rynn.

Skimmer was wearing a new dress and one expensive leather coat in white, even if she was still asleep and in the arms of undead blonde Blanche.

"You should take Skimmer on to holy ground, as she is, the demon will take her and disappear before we have a chance to save her." I said still concentrating in my spell pot.

"I am quite curious about your plan, Rachel." Natalie said.

"As we all are." Rynn pointed. "Rachel?"

"Why enter in to boring details when you are about to see it happen, Rynn?" I asked him, without letting my eyes off of my potion.

"What is that?" Natalie asked.

"This is the final touch of the preparations, Natalie." I smirked. "I'm sorry I haven't had time to shower, I have been busy here since noon." I excused myself.

"This smells like a trap." She said as unconcerned as if she was saying that was snowing outside. Almost amused of the thought that I could try to make a trap for them, clearly, she still was underestimating me, and that was fine by me.

"Oh no. I'm far too straight arrow to do such a thing, Natalie." I smiled at her confident, my eyes only diverted from my potion to her for a split second. She seemed to assess the situation, and she felt no threat. I took my spell pot with gloves. It was still hot and steaming. "Well, I will need this out there." I put the spell pot in the central counter island. I had some things over the counter: a silver knife, the spell pot, and a pair of amulets, with long leather cords attached to them. I went to serve myself a cup of coffee in one of the Vampiric charms mug, my favorite one. They were taking places by the table, I took a comforting sip and a deep breath facing the two master vamps. Kimberly was using one of her formal business suits, much like Natalie herself, but in dark red, she looked as good as she could. Robert was wearing a suit, formal one, in black as much as Rynn, but I liked him more in his more casual outfits. Even so, he looked elegant and even handsome.

"I have to ask all of you to be silent, dealing with demons is a tricky business, I need all my concentration, and if you talk to the demon, you will be opening doors to distractions, not to count that a deal not well bargained is fatal most of the times." I felt numbed, I was about to do a stupid thing. I smelt the demon, and my reaper senses alerted me with some more time than anyone would need. "Please, take a seat; Ivy has been warming some wine for you." I offered.

In seconds, the entire area of my drawn circle was free. I sipped my coffee. I could see the marks on the witches even if they were covering them with the sleeves of their expensive designer dresses. They seemed weary, and for sure they were not just a bit afraid, they were still terrified by the deal the Californian mistress made with the demon. The makeup surely covered the restless day they had spent, knowing for sure now that they were no more than pawns to Natalie, and being involved with vampires didn't pay as much as they thought in the beginning. The luxurious and expensive lifestyle and the amazing sex with a master vampire weren't even close enough to worth the price they had paid to the demon. Now they had practically forfeited their souls against their will, for the sake of a vampire that didn't give a fairy fart about them. I couldn't avoid pitying them for a second, while I was moving near my drawn circle, and I ordered _Rhombus_ in my head. The demon cursed on a weird name I didn't grasp, making himself solid inside. All of us were safe from him; he was the only one inside the big circle drawn on my kitchen floor.

"Treason!" he shouted, accusing the witches, they both shuddered at that. Natalie widened her eyes in surprise, and all the bodyguards took a more feral position with the exception of Blanche, whom was still carrying Skimmer, already sat down in one of the table chairs.

"Treason?" I asked him "What are you talking about, dude?" Oh yes, I had to use a word that surely put the demon in the edge, I needed him in rage, out of focus. I saw I made a good choice of word when he took some air insulted.

"I have never been captured by a witch! Never! You were warned of my presence!" he said very angry, he was using the same image that he used the night before a designer casual suit, in clear yellow, and sunglasses covering his red eyes. I saw the witches twitching in fear with the raging demonic outburst.

"Of course, you stink of burnt amber. I have a very sensitive nose to burnt amber. If you don't want people knowing you're coming, try taking a shower. You are the fifth demon trying to get me only this week, dude." I shook my head with a bit of frowning, like as if I wasn't aware of what was going on. "And you surely came in a very bad moment. Don't worry, I will send you back to the ever after, I have no time for you right now." I said unconcerned, as if this was an everyday stunt, which disturbingly it was, at least lately.

"If this witch sends me back, I'm coming back for both of you next time, Melissa Katharine Conner and Isabella Marie Conner, nobody double crosses me!" he shouted again. Both twins flinched, and exchanged a look.

"Do you know this demon?" I turned to see them. "Damn! You were the ones sending him." I accused at them, the aggressive one was already attacking at me, I ducked and passed quickly behind my circle, the ley line power attack was absorbed by my ever after bubble. I stifled a smirk of satisfaction when both witches began to circle the bubble at opposite sides, exactly as I thought they would do, they wanted me trapped between them. The vampires began to move as well, but all stopped, measuring each other. Kimberly and Robert got Ivy between them, to protect her and our baby. I felt very grateful to them.

"Treason indeed." I said coldly, I had tapped the line and now I was radiating ley line energy, my most daunting image, I stood up to my full height. Before ducking again, I called again "Rhombus" as the twins reached the points where I had drawn the circles. The twins gasped suddenly knowing it had been a mistake to come at me like that, when they got locked inside little circles, unable to attack at me. One of them cursed and the other fell on her knees, still unable to believe I had outsmarted them. "Oh, don't feel bad, blondies." I chuckled."I'm used to fighting with more than one at the same time, I was a IS agent, I survived a death sentence, I have taken down even 4 witches at the same time, you aren't bad, but you're no match for me." I said with confidence, and then I turned to see Natalie.

The Californian master vamp was surprised, as much as the witches. Of course they didn't even consider me as threatening as I was. Maybe that was the only pay off from not having a ravishing look, nobody ever thought of me as a real danger, except for Ivy.

"Why are you listening to a demon, Rachel Morgan?" she asked me, controlling the bafflement and the annoyance she was feeling. I walked around the circle, passing by aside a very ashamed and very pissed off fake blonde witch, still I was radiating ley line power; my hair was freezing with it. Ivy looked at me, with a warning on her eyes, with a very thin rim of brown already. The rest of Natalie's bodyguards were looking at me in a threateningly and Jennifer moved closer from the right corner.

"Demons never lie, Natalie, they say half-truths often, they twist the truth till it is unrecognizable but they never lie when they are in a circle." I said to her confidently, and calmly, making evident I wasn't planning on attacking at her.

"If he is saying your witches sent him against me, then that is at least partially true. We all know they are shadows, and it's your will the one that counts, the entire truth, is you have sent him. I have dealt with demons for a while. I know you haven't. I know about demons. Much more than you have ever wanted to know. So why have you sent a demon against me?" I asked seriously, letting the power diminishing slowly, no longer sparking from my fingers. The witches blinked surprised before my quick management of ley line energy, a quantity like that must hurt, but my face didn't show any distress, I was more experienced with the ley line that they wanted to believe I was.

"I made Melissa and Isabella summon the demon responsible for the state of my Skimmer. Two demons were drawn to their circle. This one said he has all the rights on my Skimmer and the other agreed to it. Then, the other demon was summoned by someone else, was it you?" the beautiful master vamp asked me coldly "Was it him who told you about this one's dealing with me?" She asked icily, she was still sat at one head of the table giving off a regal air.

"Whoa! Wait a second; two demons were drawn to their circle. Two?" I lifted my hands in a peace gesture. I stopped radiating Ley line power, showing confusion. "I'm not attacking at you, Natalie. I was defending myself against your witches, and they started the attack. Even before, by sending him." I said seriously. "It is pretty atypical that two demons come in one summoning. What happened exactly, word by word if you please?" I asked polite enough, Ivy came to hug me fiercely. Her head buried in the crook of my neck breathing my scent deeply to reassure herself to I was fine. I loved feeling her holding me close to her body, but God, her soft breath flowing over my neck and the gentle nip to my ear were distracting to say the least of it.

"That doesn't matter, Rachel." The undead woman said coldly.

"Of course it matters, Natalie. I already had a plan to save Skimmer, body and soul. And maybe it's not too late, you have information I don't. I need to know everything in order to plan the right way to do this. I didn´t summon a demon last night, I was too tired. And for your information I just have summoned one demon since before my coma, Natalie. And it was only because Borgia sent 6 undead vampire assassins to kill Ivy and Skimmer. I had to save Ivy and our unborn baby, in addition, Tammy was in the same room, with my mother and my sisters in law. That has been the only time I have used a demon since a long time ago. I didn't want to deal with them anymore. I have to maintain myself out of such dangers, because now, I have many reasons to live a long life. Dealing with demons tends to shorten the life of witches in extreme ways. But you have another suspect, one more suitable than me, the one who is trying to get me and kill me since a while ago. Borgia must be the one." I shrugged my shoulders.

However the unreadable alabaster mask she turned her face into didn't show a thing, but I was feeling her hesitation. I had just trapped her witches, and she didn't count now with a magical shield.

"I have been attacked by demons, and my nose reacts at the slightest hint of burnt amber, it's a reflex I had developed since long before my coma. I'm not to blame if your witches have not such talent. It's quite handy as you can see. So, you sent the demon after me. Why? I had already agreed to help you save Skimmer from the curse." I said in a reasonable way, I needed her to be calm and not order the assassination of everyone in the room.

All the vampire bodyguards where relaxing now, seeing the masters where so cool and non violent. Seeing I was reasoning with her, and I didn't hurt a bit to the witches, I merely put them in a bubble each, neutralizing her powers.

"The demon said he already was about to claim Skimmer as she was in body and soul. He proposed to turn her into a slave of his house. And regrettably, by using the blood of Skimmer, Melissa and Isabella gave him the very tool he needed to get her, no matter the protections. I cannot lose my child, Rachel Morgan. He offered to let Skimmer go only if I deliver you to him. Since you are the one to blame for all the unfortunate things my child had to suffer in the last years, it seemed fair to me." She informed us frankly. "In addition, he put two marks on Isabella and two marks on Melissa. As you can see, I have done a big sacrifice too. They are risking their souls." She said acting like a concerned mother would say, deciding her course of action for a reasonable one, instead a violent path.

"So, you are paying 3 souls and one life in exchange for Skimmer?" I asked her. "Your witches' souls are as good as lost, Natalie. It's not easy getting rid of the marks, because that means new dealings with demons, one wrong step and they are dead or as good as dead. And if the marks remain to their deaths, then the demon could claim their souls as well. I don't think they are much experienced doing deals, two marks each is too much for one single slave." I said as coldly as she did. And I could feel the roaring of her anger creeping inside her, even when her cold mask didn't show it.

"You already have lost their souls by catching the demon, Rachel." Natalie's brow slightly creased. "And if I want Skimmer safe, and Melissa and Isabella safe, then, I have to deliver you to that demon." Natalie stated clearly, but with an even voice. "Rynn, you have heard all this, now it's your call." She saw at the Cinci Master Vamp with an expression that shouted sufficiency. If he didn't agree, then she would attack all of us.

"How interesting. Now you are lost, little witch!" the demon laughed, he had heard with much interest our little exchange. I ignored him. Rynn managed to maintain a straight face. Even I could feel his anger boiling inside him. He looked at me. Ivy still was by my side and she passed an arm possessively by my waist, examining me, and a little snarl came out of her. She stared at Rynn expectantly and demandingly at the same time.

"Do you realize, Natalie, that doing such a thing would only make the two of us lose Ivy?" he asked slowly.

"Ivy is already lost to me, and to you, she was lost the moment you let her feed from an elder. Yesterday she didn't even have to struggle against me, I couldn't reach her. That only means one really elder vampire has her. I am capable of making flinch even Borgia's shadows, Ivy is a Scion, and not your Scion, and she is the Scion of one of the eldest vampires walking this Earth. That is the only explanation for her rejection to me yesterday. You just have not realized yet you lost her. But I still have the chance to save my child." She pointed convinced. "My Skimmer is a vampire with a bloodline a thousand of years old, Rynn." Natalie stated before he could say another thing.

"Who is more valuable, Rynn? A witch or the last living vampire of a line that old?" Natalie asked. "It is the witch, or it is Ivy the one you will forfeit, I'm forfeiting two witches more capable and skilled than her, if you don't give the witch to the demon, then you give me Ivy's baby to replace my child." She smiled venomously. She had planned a win – win situation to her advantage.

Rynn made an incredible effort to seem as cool and detached as Natalie was being, even when the anger was boiling inside him. The Californian Master vamp smiled, crossing the leg femininely. And her hands crossed over her knee, in a casual position, careless, she felt sure of her victory, no master vamp could turn their back on a vampire over a witch, not in a case like Skimmer's bloodline.

"I don't believe this!" Ivy hissed. I hugged her.

"No, Ivy, don't." I asked quietly.

"But, Rachel!" she hugged me fiercely. I chuckled. I couldn't help it. She looked at me baffled.

"What's funny?"

"It seems like someone made an impression!" I said pointing with my eyes inside the main circle. The demon had taken my demon form, with the bony protuberances far from appealing in the skinny and muscular body. "Is that your fear, Jennifer? Or maybe is yours, Blanche? Or is the newest fear of both of you? ...I must say, that is not attractive at all, too bony for my taste, you could use some more meat here and there in the disguise, dude..." I warned the demon with a giggle.

"Stop calling me that, witch!" he shouted. "For a witch a step from being my slave, you are too merry. You will show you some respect! I am a demon."

"A demon using a distorted image of me, you can scare others, dude, but you can't scare me." I smiled mocking him. He puffed and changed his form again, this time he was a big peacock with flaming eyes. I recalled one of my High school lessons on mythology; the peacock was the animal representation for a Greek goddess. "Ouch! Hera?" I turned to see Natalie's clenched jaws "That's your biggest fear? Well, Anubis was the one for Piscary, he wasn't born a vampire either, so, you two have much in common, and you were very religious as humans." I shrugged my shoulders.

The master vampire said nothing. The demon puffed again and he changed into a very teenager version of Ivy in jeans and a sleeveless shirt in black, however, she had stormy black eyes.

"Wow! You were a nightmare for someone, love. But you look pretty, dude." I mocked the demon, still I had an arm behind Ivy's back in a loose hug. He snorted and stared at me very annoyed.

"What's your biggest fear, Rachel Mariana Morgan?" Ivy's voice asked me and her lovely teenage face stared at me with clear hatred in the depth of her eyes, not as well accomplished as he would have wished, they were red in some parts, like most demons, this one seemed to have problems disguising the eyes.

"You would never believe me if I told you, try harder, you're the big bad demon here, aren't you?" I challenged him. "Come on, you can read my mind as you have read all the others, can you not?"

The demon took a sharp breath, showing the anger he was already feeling. I smiled at him. He frowned and he turned into me, with my jeans and purple long sleeved blouse. He continued scowling at me.

"Much better, dude. Although, the eyes aren't quite right, and the teeth are too big." I criticized him with a shrug on my shoulders.

"Are you kidding? This cannot be right! This is simply outrageous." He almost spat at me.

"Oh it is no joke I'm afraid. It's just I know very well by now. I'm always in fear of the things I'm capable of doing when I'm cornered just as I am now, and you will regret the moment you made that deal for getting me, because you are going to learn to fear me, demon. By the end of this night, I will be your own nightmare as well." I said sternly.

The demon laughed rather insolently. He was amused. I sighed shaking my head, while I was mentally bracing myself; this was the last seconds of calm in the upcoming busy night.

"I know, I know. However, at least half the demons summoned in this city appear with my image, I'm the most dreadful witch in town, and I'm not even 30. I personally think it's unfair to me. I don't even cast much black magic; certainly I do less black magic than any other witch using demons around." I ranted with some frowning, pensive frowning, I was not afraid, or aggressive I was numbed, one of the best features from being a reaper.

"Black magic? Do you even know the meaning of that, Rachel Mariana Morgan? This house smells like a regular witch house. Redwood, no sacrifices at all." He said as if it was an insult. "This is very disappointing. This can't be right." He glanced at himself with my form.

"Enough bickering, what is going to be, Rynn?" Natalie asked impatiently, I could feel more than seeing that she was too surprised for the way I interacted with the demon, she surely could feel the fear her witches suffered when they were dealing with it. But I was treating him like an equal; I was bothering him with all intention of doing it.

"Rachel?" Rynn looked for my eyes. "What can you do? Can you save Skimmer and get rid of this demon?"

"Well, I already had a plan, Rynn." I said a little tense. "But she said there was another demon involved, who was he?" I asked, directly to Natalie. Ivy still was by my side and she still was hugging me by the waist, possessively.

"Barcharolloael, Barcharialel, something like that." She said frowning a bit. I puffed shaking my head.

"Rollo? Damn! The worlds are a napkin. He is the demon that almost killed me, I sent him to save Ivy." I faked astonishment very well. "Well, if he gave his claiming rights to this one, then I have a very good chance to fix this mess." I took a deep breath, looking thoughtful, I was ignoring the demon again, I moved and Ivy moved with me, unwilling to leave my side. "Although I have to recognize it is dangerous, and if anything goes wrong, then the demon is going to have his way. There's no other way I can think of… saving people from demons is a risky business." I said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Rynn asked me while I was recovering my coffee mug.

"No one is 100% sure while dealing in any way with demons, Rynn. Even Master vampires as old as Piscary and Borgia know very well that fact, and they secure their places against them. Natalie does good not dealing with them. It is too dangerous and too expensive in many ways. I had a plan, and it is still doable. But I need no one interfering in any way." I warned in general, using a detached, professional voice, I was getting better using that demeanor; I wasn't as cool as Claire when she used my image, but I was improving.

"You have heard her, Natalie. I think it's only fair giving her the chance to do it. If she cannot do it, then the demon will take her."Rynn faced the undead woman. Blanche was carrying Skimmer still asleep, sitting on a chair. Natalie deemed the matter for few seconds, with a pensive expression on the face. It was a big risk.

"If I go with that, and then she fails, what happens with Skimmer?" she asked no one in particular.

"Then the deal you made with him is forfeited, because you didn't fulfil your part of it, and you would lose Skimmer, and your witches' souls for nothing." I answered her honestly. "Demons are very strict on the conditions of the deals, you fail on any condition and they take the payment for nothing. It's a risky business, as I said before. One mistake, one condition poorly stipulated and then you are losing the payment for nothing. I will be risking my life, my soul and if I fail, I will wish I die for the rest of my life in ever after. I would be a familiar, or a slave, or both, ever after is not a pleasant place even for demons, Natalie. If I fail, then you lose Skimmer and Ivy and Rynn lose me. But I don't intend to fail." I shrugged my shoulders. "Certainly, I cannot give you any warranty on anything, but my word that I will do my best to save Skimmer and myself." I sighed pensive.

Natalie stared at me, again I could see that hint of respect in the dark eyes, as she ogled me head to toes once more.

"No guarantees at all, and I have already a deal with him. Skimmer's life is in the line. But at least you aren't lying to me, Rachel. Why I should risk a sure deal if you cannot provide any guarantees on my child's future?"

"You should because it were you the one putting Skimmer in the hands of your enemies, Natalie." Ivy said slowly, her eyes still were more black than brown, she still was by my side. I knew she was there because she was determined that anyone who tried to take me would have to get past her first. One of the features of territoriality on vampires, they fiercely defend their territory. "You should because Rachel deserves the chance of at least fighting for her life and for our babies' sake. You should because otherwise if you make that deal good, then so help me God, because I will get my revenge, and you will cease to exist by my hand even if it takes the rest of my life to do it, and even if I lose my life and my undead existence in the process." Her silky voice became velvety at the end of her promise. Her eyes held only the thinnest rim of brown and she could barely keep a check on her aura.

"You were the one rushing on this one, Natalie. I have seen Rachel do astonishing things no one else dares to do, and even if I don't agreed with her in many things regarding her plans to save Skimmer I know her too well to stand on her way. No one more than me wants Rachel safe and sound, no one more than me wants her out of any danger, but I know she wouldn't be the person she is if she played safe all the time. She wouldn't be the woman I love beyond myself if she wouldn't care for everyone as she does. She is not lying to you; she doesn't care about you and your decision of helping Rynn or kill us all. She is doing it for Skimmer's future, because she cannot help herself fighting her good doer nature." Ivy added with a little strain on her voice. She was doing her best to control her vampire instincts, the ones telling her to defend her territory in a more aggressive way.

I hugged her waist.

"Please, love... Don't lose your temper. Not right now." I asked of her quietly. She drew me tighter against her body. I let her nuzzle my neck again; she calmed down a bit and just nodded. I knew this was hard on her.

Natalie gazed at us intently, looking for any sign of foul play on us. I felt some hardening inside her, as she made the decision.

"I will give you the chance you are asking for, Rachel. Only because I respect the honesty and the way you have behaved through this. If I lose Skimmer in the process, then you will be worse than dead as you well put it. I have never trusted in demons, I know very well they are not trustable in the least. I trusted once, and they screwed me over, as you said, one stipulation got me nothing but loses, big ones. And I know this one has been in deals with Borgia for his own words. I know he wants my Skimmer and he was too pleased for a reason I do not understand. Maybe he was already planning in a way to keep Skimmer despite my actions. There was another demon in the circle, and he said he already gave his rights on Skimmer to this one, but something was suspiciously odd about him, about the both of them." She said thoughtful.

"Not many people know about the demon society, Natalie. And they have a judicial system. Of course if there was no binding magical contract between the two of them, if there were only words, then the other demon still has a chance to claim Skimmer, even if this one had dealt with her to free her. While the curse is upon her, did he promise to lift the curse, or to let her free from the slavery?" I asked her sternly.

"I see now. He wasn't freeing her from the curse." Natalie frowned. "I assumed he was lifting the curse. I simply cannot get my way to understand demons; I like the forwardness and the straight words. So they have a judicial system?"

"Yes, they certainly do. And it is quite harsh. Then you will let me try to save Skimmer with my original plan?" I asked.

"Yes." She nodded once to emphasize the word.

"You will regret this, Sophia Helena Myra Nix Julia Natalie." The demon said still in my form. I stared at Ivy. My vamp returned the staring intensely.

"So, we are on." I said in a soft murmur.

"I didn't expect less from Natalie, she respects the bravery, and the honesty, she always had." Ivy answered into my ear. "Don't get killed!" she ordered me, quietly and passionately.

"I'll do my best." I smiled to her. She kissed me full on the mouth, regardless the witnesses. I let myself going lost in her for a moment, her lips tasted like Heaven and I did nothing to hold back a little moan of pleasure. I loved this woman, and I hadn't any problem showing it to the world. Ivy's hands crossed on the small of my back, I pressed my hands against her back. I didn't care what the witnesses could think of us. I loved that vampire and she loved me back, that was about everything I cared for some moments.

The demon's laughter drew her apart from me. He didn't change into himself; he was still wearing my image. And it was quite unpleasant to see. He managed to make me look like an evil witch would look. I caressed Ivy's cheek with the pads of my fingers, still staring at her.

"Please, be clam, Ivy. This is necessary." I asked very quietly. I knew how hard was for her letting me do the things I had to do, I had been always emotionally straining for her taking a step back and leave me to do my witchy things. I smiled reassuringly at her and brushed lightly her lips again. My vampire lover nodded reluctantly. Then I stepped back from her, and focused my attention on my circles.

"I'm going to enjoy this, Rachel Mariana Morgan. I should thank you, because I won't lose my slave, and I will have you as well. I can hardly wait to see what Maeve is planning for you. You certainly have pissed her off."

"I have that effect on many people." I chuckled to myself.

"Why aren't you afraid? He is a demon!" Isabella, the weaker twin said to me, too baffled by the decision of her master. I chuckled loudly this time. I spared a final glance to Ivy and moved towards the circle.

"Demons have hierarchy as well, Isabella Marie Conner. This one, he is barely above a common trader." I shrugged my shoulders. "Rollo, on the other hand, I wouldn't risk to face him so lightly, Rollo is warrior class. There are not many warrior class demons dealing with any witches. They are too powerful and consider us too low and too beneath them. For good reasons." I sighed. "I know it had to be Rollo the one making the curse. It needs a lot of power to construct such kind of curse. A common trader would never achieve it. Common traders like this one, they go with more powerful demons to get the things they cannot do by themselves. Of course the higher demons are very expensive to convince. Maybe Borgia can afford to pay not 2 witches, but at least 2 dozens of them to pay for a curse like that. Borgia has killed and delivered not hundreds, but thousands of our kind to the demons to pay for the favors they do to her along the thousands of years she has been undead." I said to her, getting closer to her circle.

"In fact, she paid us with 6 dozens witches for this curse, it's a very powerful and complicated thing to do; we had to sacrifice 2 dozens just for the preparations. They died with the smut only." The demon chuckled. "I see you are very well informed, Rachel Mariana Morgan."

I ignored him once more. I stared at the blond witch, she stood up and faced me as well, with some kind of fear, and some respect as well.

"If I let you both free, would you stay out of this?" I asked her. "I need to be focused on my own dealing with this demon. I cannot afford an attack from the rear." I stated honestly.

"I will not attack at you. Good luck. Zarthimeatreal is a very dangerous demon, Rachel. You should be very afraid, and you aren't. I cannot understand that."

"Well, all demons are dangerous, I give you that. But making deals from a position of fear is not good either. They aren't as different from us as they presume they are." I shrugged my shoulders. "I will do my best for getting you two out of the hook as well. It was an unfair price, and being me the one responsible for ruining the deal, the least I can do, is trying to free you two as well."

The demon cackled once more. And the witch in front of me flinched. I didn't bother to look at him yet. I needed him to get distracted, and angry, I needed him out of focus.

"If our master says we cannot touch you, we cannot touch you. It would be worthless to push you inside with him if he already has the excuse our mistress cut off the deal. He will not respect us even if we deliver you, Morgan." The scorn was very clear in the voice of Melissa. The other twin talked to me from her bubble. "You just have lost our souls for good, and the only comfort I will have, is that you are going to suffer more and longer than any of us. Zarthimeatreal is not going to make any deal with you. At least not one in which you can save the vampire, or us, or yourself." She said between clenched teeth.

"You listen to her, Rachel Mariana Morgan. She actually knows what she is saying. I will never forgive you for trapping me. This is the worst humiliation I ever had received. And you will pay dearly for it!" He warned me with my voice, with a snide smile across the copy of my face he made. "I don't care if I have to come back other day, I will not make you any deal!" he warned me.

"Shut up, dude... you are giving me a migraine and it's not even 8 in the evening!" I said coldly.

"Stop calling me that, witch! I'm a demon and I have a name. Isabella and Melissa just gave it to you, use it when you are addressing at me." He demanded the anger renewed.

"It's a long and ridiculous name, dude. Nobody deserves such an awful and complicated name, I'm sure they gave you a hard time when you were a demon boy more than 5 thousand years ago." I mocked him. "Children are children everywhere." I smiled at him mockingly; of course he didn't like it.

"Look who's talking, witch! Your fashion sense is dreadful! You don't even look like a witch!" the demon mocked me. "Surely all the other witches gave you a hard time for it."

I laughed at him, getting closer to my main circle.

"Ah, but that's my style, dude. I am the most dreadful witch in Cinci." I shrugged my shoulders. "And I would be most grateful if you don't touch my things, those took me the entire afternoon to prepare." I said in a warning tone to him.

"Ha! Do you think I care about your little tricks?" he took the spell pot and he wet himself when he tossed it to the floor, it was still too hot, he let out a big fat word. Then he took the cords from the amulets, with the intention of maybe rip them apart or tossing them to the floor as well, but he couldn't because the cords moved and tied on his wrists, he shrieked, still with my voice and image. I moved fast, passing through my circle to grab the big dented spell pot I had under the counter. I didn't stop for a second and I reach him when he was still baffled with my little surprise. I hit him in the head hard, and he fell to the floor, as I was raising my circle again with a mental order.

I grabbed the knife form the counter and I cut him, near the restraints on one wrist, he shrieked as I was making the invocation, putting the potion to work as I casted the spell, while I was still hitting him in the head with the spell pot. I didn't allow myself to be distracted by the fact he was still wearing my form. Although, it was weird to be literally kicking my ass as he didn't change.

The pot crashing repeatedly on his skull had the effect I expected, stunning him enough. Then I took the ties I had hidden under the counter and I tied him up quickly, Arms behind the back, and by the ankles. I was trying to join both ties with a pair of handcuffs when the demon moved violently and hit me in the face with the back of his head. I half fell to sitting on the floor, and I kicked him hard in the shoulder. I felt the blood coming out my right nostril in a thin line. The handcuffs had gone under the counter and I had no time to look for another thing. The ropes had to do.

"You stupid ass. You made me bleed in a room full of vampires on the edge." My heel hit him hard with every word; The demon with my form tried to cover, but most of my kicks landed on his head and shoulders, the restraints both physical and magical made it impossible to defend from me, he just could squirm in the place he had fallen on the floor.

I knew the witnesses were watching with the eyes wide open and the witches had the jaws hanging to the floor. They certainly would never touch a demon. I spared a look around the room. Ivy had lost some color watching me, knowing I was doing one of the most stupid things I had ever done. I smiled to her reassuringly.

"I will kill you, Rachel Mariana Morgan!" he shouted outraged. "What? What have you done to me?" he struggled to get free, but he couldn't go misty. He couldn't perform any magic. The amulets were powerful elemental restraints for demons and elves.

"Ah, you know, Z? Now you're my little familiar." I chuckled. "I warned you about my things, didn't I?" I asked him in a mockingly fashion. "You just bathed yourself with the potion to make familiars, and I made the bonding spell while you were only hearing the hits on your head." I explained to him getting on my feet. "But you felt your aura passing to me, didn't you?" I stared down at him since my full height. I cleaned with my fingers the little bleeding of my nose.

"Impossible!" he tried to attack me with magic. Of course, he knew immediately that he was more than trapped. For a second he seemed more afraid than angry but he paused for a second and assessed the situation quickly.

Then I saw the snide smile in the face so similar to mine and I felt his hope growing in a new plan. I felt the strong current of ley line coming through him towards me, using the bond as my familiar. I was expecting that, so I let it flow through me and I let it out using my arm and hand to hit him with the bolt of ley line power. He shrieked again, twisting as much the ties let him. It was a hard attack. I rubbed my arm, it had been nothing I couldn't handle, but I had to fake it for the benefit of the plan. However, I growled low, it was hard to control my marks from showing in the presence of a demon.

"That was a cheap blow, dude! So, you're the one with the claim over Dorothy Eloise Claymor?" I asked him.

"I will never give her to you! She is mine and stop calling me that! My name is Zarthimeatreal. I will kill you, maybe you could manage that one, but you won't be able to win this and you know it. Rachel Mariana Morgan. No witch is capable of managing as much ley line energy as a demon can manage. I will fry you!" he said with a confident smile.

"Do your worst, Z!" I nodded and I barely had time to guide the ley line he sent upon me to hit him again. But I did, and he was the one receiving the attack. It was then that I saw his plan, he made a circuit with me, and I heard the gasping of both witches trapped. After only a few seconds I was tense and the demon was kind of levitating in a vertical position due to the energy, certainly he could handle more than I expected, but not as nearly as much as Al and I managed the very night I turned into reaper.

"What is happening, Melissa?" Natalie asked.

"She, she bound him to her, he is using the ley line to fry her nervous system, they are now wired by ley line energy, it's a circuit, it is like if both are being electrocuted. The stronger one is the one winning the match." The blond witch answered, still too shocked by the things she was witnessing.

"Die!" the demon let out between clenched teeth.

"No one has to know, Zarthimeatreal. You would be the very joke of all demon kind if someone knows a witch made you a familiar. I will free you, as long you let Skimmer go free, it's a good deal." I said in the same forced fashion.

"Never, I will kill you!" he empowered the connection. I heard the sobbing from Isabella. The weaker twin was suffering only by seeing. She wasn't like the sister.

I tensed a bit more, but I started to get closer to him, even when he was at his maximum, I made it look like it was a big effort to take every little step. Ivy was watching me very tense; she had come closer to the circle to see the action

"Think, Z. This is your last chance, make a deal with me, and I let you go, you just let Skimmer go, and we forget we ever met." I murmured between clenched jaws.

"Never!" he repeated in a hiss. I shivered.

"Is that your last word?" I demanded, very strained.

"You are about to fall!" he smiled with my face.

"You are!" I growled making it appear as if it took a supreme effort to punch him with all my strength in the face, and we both fall to the floor heavily, in a tangle of limbs, my marks itching to come out, I grabbed him by the neck and my fist landed on the demon's face once and again, while my hidden marks reaped his magic off of him. As always when I touched a demon since I was reaper, he was catatonic, lying on one side of his body (my body since he had copied my form), because the restraints and the ropes didn't let him lay on his back. But the witnesses thought I had knocked him out. Instead, I absorbed all the magic while I was punching him in the face, I was panting badly. It seemed like Barcharolloael had provided his lover with a lot of heavy curses, way beyond the level Zarthimeatreal was capable of.

Luckily, nobody could expect me to feel well right now; I fell to the linoleum floor after a last blow. I moved slowly, giving my back to the demon to make a curl of myself, while the sickening sensation of absorbing the magic, and the debts he had to collect passed to me, I felt a connection towards the witches, and they groaned touching their marks in their arms.

"What's happening, Rache?" Ivy asked me concerned, as close as she could be outside my circle; she dropped a knee to the ground to see me the closer she could.

"I didn't count on the debts, oh, it feels awful, it's like if I have his soul crawling all over mine, is disgusting." I gagged between pants, hugging my knees against my chest in a fetal position over the floor.

"Are you in pain?" Ivy asked me worried.

"Yes, I need a pain amulet." I mumbled in a groaned voice.

"Rachel, you have knocked him out, let the circle drop, and we finish the job for you." Rynn offered impressed.

"No, Rynn. We cannot kill him." I said with another groan. This was going to be a long, long night.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer**: KH owns the most of the characters and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

Notes: I'm setting this after WWBC. I will add some characters of my own. We still have a long journey ahead. If I suck, well, tell me kindly please.

This is RaVy all over the place, so you've been warned.

Thanks for the reviews, and for those anonymous ones, let me tell you I want to finish this one, no matter how much time takes me, I want to finish it, and I'm a sucker for happy endings as well, even if I like to walk into slippery roads now and then and I like to rough the witch and the vamp a bit, because let's be honest, when you get into troubles the logical thing is getting a bit bruised, and a little angst always can balance the action and the little happy scenes. So bare with my lazy muse, I will finish this one, I promise.

Again, my gratitude to Natasha for correcting the ton of grammar mistakes I usually make. I know you're really busy at work and writing your own fic. So, thank you very much for taking the time to correct this chapter. I might have added some things here and there as usual, so any mistake is entirely mine.

I wrote it four times, and it's not entirely satisfactory for me, however, it never is. I'm sorry for the long waiting you had to do, next one probably took the same amount of time, (auditory at my work, I will be busy as well.)

CHAPTER 26

I still was on the floor, hugging myself in a fetal position. The nausea was subsiding slowly. I looked at them: Rynn had taken a place standing to one side of my Ivy, whom was still down on one knee, trying to be closer to me. I could feel her fear on my possible injuries, her need to come to me and protect me. The demon effectively was knocked out at my back. I had maybe knocked him out with the third of fourth punch I landed on his jaw. (My jaw, because he still was holding my form_, I must say it was kind of therapeutic to kick, almost literally, my own ass. God knows I deserve to be kicked in the bum once in a while_). I could feel the excitement and eagerness from every vampire in the room for taking a piece of the demon.

Everybody knew that killing a demon was the next to impossible, and all of them had witnessed me kicking his demonic ass and leaving him defenseless and vulnerable, everyone of them wanted to be the one doing the impossible deed. All of them had eyes blacker than sin, wild grimaces upon the handsome and beautiful faces, except for my lover. Ivy was just mad with anguish because I was hurting and she couldn't reach me.

Even my in laws were fiercely longing to have a piece of the demon. ─ Well Ivy and I weren't officially married, and maybe we couldn't get married in the official way─ but for me, Robert and Kimberly were my parents in law. At this point Robert had grown a sentiment of acceptance and I thought he might even love me, because I was making his little girl happy. And Kimberly was accepting me and noticing my good points slowly, even though she still wanted a living vamp heir with her own heir. But after the outburst of vampire territoriality Morgan had shown the previous night, Kimberly was very pleased to say the least. The Tamwood line was having the most powerful heir so far in the form of our little still unborn vamp. However, I couldn't focus on that now, I was feeling much worse than before, not physically.

I hadn't counted on the debts the demon had to collect. There were dozens, not just skimmer and the Conner Sisters, those were passing to me and I hadn't even thought of them. I wanted to rescue Skimmer, but now, I could feel the weight of many others' debts charring a way into my soul, and pinning it to the floor. My conscience began to scream, I could save dozens. But I had no idea of how I could do that. My mind didn't dive into the thoughts of saving more because the next question.

"Why not, Rachel?... Killing him seems the right thing to do." Natalie stated getting closer to my ever after circle, as Rynn had done. He was now standing besides Ivy almost touching her. Natalie stood at the other side of my lover. Ivy was still down on her knees, looking at me very concerned.

"Many reasons…the main one is that my babies are here one in the church, one still inside Ivy, Ivy is here…It is a risk I will not take…Demons don't die naturally, when one dies, is because someone one killed him, usually another demon. But Demons have a harsh judicial system. The punishment for murdering a demon for everyone involved in the fact is as certain as death and taxes. Demons can disappear for a while, but the moment they die, then the system they have registers that death, and there's no natural death for demons… So, they will know it was a murder… and then they will hunt down every one of us… including all the ones that don't have anything to do with it, my babies would not be spared, nor Ivy, nor my mother, or my friends." I moved slowly, groaning in pain.

"Everyone on the premises would be condemned as much as us. The demons would put us in a jail in the ever after. Then they will have a trial and find us guilty, and I don't want to even think what kind of experiments they can make on my babies..." I said worried "…Ivy is a beautiful woman, surely, after they had Morgan, they would turn her into a pet sex toy and house slave, just the same this one had planned for Skimmer; that would be the punishment for every living vampire in the premises, and I rather die before condemning Ivy to such fate…As for me, I don't want to be a familiar or a sex toy, or both for a demon. That would be most likely the punishment for every witch on the premises. For the undead the punishment would be most likely field slavery, making forced jobs on the surface of the ever after until the worlds collide or the carrion eater demons get to you, what happens first. Of course on top is that they will take all the souls of those of us that still have one." I informed them very seriously; between pants and pained groans. I could see a variety of expressions on the faces, but the witches seemed to agree with me. Natalie's eyes narrowed in suspicion, whilst Rynn brows went up a bit in a momentary surprised face.

Yes, I had created a very serious situation. And this one involved so many more than the ones in my kitchen.

"Are you sure?" Rynn frowned.

"Yes, and besides, I need him alive. I have now the debts he has to collect, including the ownership of Skimmer and the marks on the Conner sisters. Thank God it didn't kick in until he stopped fighting or I would be dead." I got slowly into a sitting position, and hugged my knees. I rested my head on them. I was still panting and pitifully whimpering quietly, showing my pain. The icy waves of demon magic were devastating my insides, while I was willing them towards my marks. I had new marks forming on my chest and my neck. _Just great! At least I could hide them now, even when there just forming._ Stopping myself from scratching like crazy in front of all of them was taking much of my will power. I felt sick, but it was passing slowly.

"I still have the amulet you gave me yesterday, dear. But I cannot give it to you until you drop the circle. Please?" Ivy said tentatively.

"Give me a moment to catch my breath and rest a bit, love. Only thinking of using more ley line power right now makes me sick all over." I said pitying myself.

"Melissa, is that true, is she carrying now the debts from the demon?" The Californian master vampire asked to her strongest witch, without holding back the astonishment and the skepticism in her honey-like and seductive voice.

"It seems so, Natalie." The stronger twin nodded baffled. "I had never thought this could be possible! I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't watching it happen." She recognized, now she wasn't feeling such a fool for having got trapped by little old me. Now I was a very powerful and very brave witch in her eyes; she surely shared with her mistress the admiration for the foolish display of bravado and the reckless plan I had come up with.

"So, are you able to free Skimmer from the curse now, Rachel?" Natalie asked truly amazed .

"I'm afraid not, Natalie. I might have collected all his debts as his mistress. By the magical bonding all of his is now mine, but I'm not a demon. You need a demon to perform demon magic. I'm a witch. No witch can do demon magic, we have different blood. That's another reason why I need this demon alive." I explained rubbing clumsily my calves with my still shaky hands_. _

_Damn, I have more marks forming there as well._ The itching wasn't pleasant. For a second the memory of Ivy's fingers and how good they felt when she had scratched me as a wolf came to the front of my mind. I wondered if I could convince my lover to scratch my itches later. The back of my mind laughed at me, and I blushed realizing the meanings that sentence could have. Thank God I didn't mention it out loud, because neither Ivy nor Jenks would ever forget it.

"How do you plan to force him to free my Skimmer and Melissa and Isabella?" Natalie asked very interested.

"I'm not sure yet, Natalie. He is too proud. I will give him another chance to submit to my demands, now the bonding is complete. He cannot use magic due to the restraints. If he doesn't give up, then I have to go with plan B, plan A just didn't work the ideal way." I sighed brokenly and I groaned again, shivering.

"Rache, you need the pain amulet, I can feel your pain, my love." Ivy insisted concerned.

"Yes, I'm coming, honey. I'm coming. Are we clear we need the demon alive?" I asked the master vamps.

"Yes." They both nodded energetically. I made a big effort to stand and walked shakily to Ivy. She caught me when I groaned again the moment I touched my big circle, making it disappear. She hugged me fiercely, supporting almost all my weight against her body.

"Oh, God. You are totally tensed and filled with knots." She murmured kissing my jaw and neck while her hands were running all over me, with examining purposes.

"It was like being electrocuted, her nervous system is aching all over. Could you free us as well, or do you need more time, Rachel?" Isabella asked me, she still had tears crossing her face.

"I better get it over with." I murmured against my lover's neck. Ivy practically carried me towards the kind twin first. I let them out of my circles, trying not to whimper every time. Ivy put the amulet around my neck and I hugged her barely with any strength. "Ivy?"

"Yes, my dear?" she asked me as quietly as I had called her.

"Could you kick him for me?"

"Gladly!" she nodded with a little hiss.

"It's not like that; it's just that I can't afford another attack, honey. I need him unable to manage ley line energy freely. I need him with broken bones, maybe ribs and an arm, or something like that. I need him unable to make another circuit. It's going to be like torture, and I don't like it, even if he is a demon trying to kill me, it's not right to torture him. But I can't take another attack like that. Not in this shape." I explained to her in barely audible voice, it was enough to every vampire and pixie in the premises to hear, even when my face was buried in the crook of her neck.

"Allow me." Jennifer was right in front of us. "I will not kill him, but I will break his ribs on both sides and the right arm." She offered full of confidence, and yes, she had a very recognizable hint of respect upon the fully black eyes as well. I could see the fight inside Ivy through her also all black eyes. She wanted to exert some retaliation on the demon, but I really had some knots, and the weight on my soul was making me feeling worst, instead of better, my mind was spinning and racing with thoughts I couldn't bear. At last after only two seconds, Ivy decided I was more important, and I needed her with me. My heart melted. Ivy gave up her instinct of taking revenge, favoring her instinct to protect me.

"Thank you, Jennifer." Ivy nodded to take me to the table; she sat me down and massaged my shoulders and back, while she was still hugging me. I just buried my face between her breasts, hugging her waist as if my life depended on it, her scent always made me feel protected and secure. It was becoming a safe place for my mental sake, just having her near. "I got you, dear. I got you." Ivy didn't want to let go as well. _"Are you that bad?"_ I heard the question in my mind.

"_Physically, no, Al was a lot worse. But babe, I hadn't even considered it… this demon had a lot of debts to collect, the souls of dozens of witches and humans are compromised to him_. _And I don't know how to free them, and I might end up dooming them!" _Her arms tightened around me, she could feel my guilt, my disturbed feelings.

"_You scared me for a second. But you made it, maybe you can do something, maybe you cannot. However so far, you are doing this well, and I'm afraid you are getting into a new status in the eyes of Natalie and Rynn. Now they both know you are a powerful witch, and you know much more about demons than other witches, it's a dangerous path, dear heart" _Ivy let me know, and I could feel her anguish, yes, I was making a very dangerous move. She feared the greed of the master vamps, she had suffered all her life because them. "_And on top of that this demon now wants to kill you as well…" _

"_I'm sorry, babe__. I didn't count on the reaping, that always makes me feel sick for a little bit. Now Z has nothing stored in him, and the restraints are enough to stop him from tapping a line he only can try to use the bond as my familiar, but with broken bones, he won't be able to even trying again. He is mine."_ I let her know confidently. She kissed my hair, her hands still massaging my back and shoulders. My head went back to spinning in a dozen directions again.

"Does she need something to drink or eat or…something, Ivy?" Robert asked her hesitantly by our side.

"I still have nausea, but thanks." I moaned against Ivy's chest. "We need a chair from the shed, and some ropes, I need him immobilized." I added. I could hear the hits Jennifer was delivering to the fallen demon, and I didn't like it, I flinched a bit. It was redundant, but certainly it was a nice touch for vampire standards. Besides, I couldn't disguise my reaper capabilities if he took another shot on me. However that was wrong of me, he was taking great physical damage because of my words, and maybe I shouldn't feel bad about it, but that made me feel like a monster. I was torturing a defenseless living being.

"Maurice, please ask one the guards outside to bring in the items." I heard Rynn's cool voice, from one of the heads of the table. The big guy nodded and used his cell phone turning towards the window, by the sink. I couldn't hear him.

"That was more than impressive, Rachel. I never thought a witch could outsmart a demon in this way. You drove him into using the potion and touching the amulets to restrain his power from the beginning, you tricked him into doing what you wanted him to do. I have never heard of a witch with a demon familiar." Natalie said carefully soft.

"You saw the reason as well, Natalie. He would have killed me if I hadn't knocked him out." I said moving slowly, watching the effects of the motion on my body. "It would have been impossible to achieve if the one with the debt was Barcharolloael. This one is a low demon. He manages well the ley line power, and has his pockets filled with curses. But he can't fight. This one couldn't take some witch strength blows. Warrior demons were the ones fighting the elves in the war. All warrior demons know how to fight physically and at the same time they cast magic. You should know elves are a lot stronger than witches physically, and a lot faster, so you can have an idea of the fighting skills they have. In addition, all warriors have weapons: swords, knives, daggers, maces, spears… often they're cursed weapons, as Jennifer told you. Barcharolloael is a warrior demon and he used weapons to kill the undead assassins. A witch is no match for a warrior demon." I sighed, Ivy let me move, but her arm remained over my shoulders. We both faced the vampires. Now they were at the table once again, with their forgotten glasses of wine in front of them.

"Now, Rachel Could you tell us what are you planning?" Rynn asked me. "I would like to hear about plan B before you get into another fight with a demon, Rachel." he asked in a caring and interested voice.

"Yes, Rachel made a backup plan in case this wouldn't work." Ivy sighed. "Are you sure about this, love?" she took my face between her hands softly to force me to look at her eyes.

"We don't have another choice, honey. I could barely manage this one. Barcharolloael is out of the question, he can kill me before I could even do a thing. But he certainly ceded his rights on Z. Thank God for big favors." I sighed too. "I just need a few minutes to gather myself."

"We can lock him up in another circle." Isabella offered, already standing behind Natalie, as her twin sister was.

"He cannot attack anyone but me, using the bond as my familiar, but the restraints are enough to prevent him from doing any magic on anyone else. And with broken bones, I don't think he can gather enough ley line energy to be successful, besides, he will be tied up to a chair." I said slowly, pensive. I leaned my head against Ivy's side; she was still on her feet, besides the chair she had taken me to.

"I have researched into restraints like those, but all the recipes I found required at least one human sacrifice or more." Melissa said. "There is no smell of any sacrifice in here or on the restraints."

"There's more than demon magic and witchcraft in the world. Maybe you should widen the research." I carefully avoided giving a straight answer to that one. They were both College degree witches, with much more knowledge than I had in regular witchcraft.

"Elven magic? You found the way of performing elven magic?" she blinked.

"There's even more than that, elven magic is too wild to manage comfortably by a witch it's basically the same, but their bodies manage differently the ley line energy." I sighed. Both witches stared at me with the eyes wide open. "What? There's College training, and there's a lot of other training, you know?" I frowned a bit, uncomfortable, I had said too much as always. My big mouth always was getting me into trouble.

"What is the next thing to do in order to save Miss Claymor?" Rynn insisted, saving me from answering more questions from the witch at least for now.

"I need a demon to make the counter curse for freeing Skimmer, and with some luck, even the other ones affected by it. I don't know if this one is going to concede the point. I didn't count on his pride. But now he is my familiar whether he likes it or not, and I cannot afford being attacked at any moment by him just like now. If I'm sleeping or unprepared he will kill me. There's a way of getting rid of him, and not having to kill him. I will make the most stupid move I have ever done." I explained to them. Then Jenks came and landed on my shoulder.

"Rache, what's plan B? Grab the demon and run?" he asked me very concerned, his wings were purple and he left a trail of pixie dust almost invisible on my purple blouse.

"There's no possible running out of this, Jenks. Plan B is calling a bigger demon into the scene."

"Are you insane? The moment any other demon knows you made a demon your familiar; your back is going to have the biggest target ever drawn for all demons to shot at. As sure as Tink's a Disney's whore that will happen!" He hovered in front of my face, angry his wings turned red, red pixie dust pouring out of him. "They're already trying to kill you as things are!" he reproached me.

"That would be the case with almost all demons with one exception I hope." I said frowning in concern. "The thing is I have the debts this one has to collect, I could try to save the stupid witches and humans that were in his hands. But I don't have any idea of how!" I sighed pained that thought was crushing me slowly.

_Ceri might know the way, after all my blood could perform demon magic._ (A fact that should remained secret, if I wanted some freedom in the future. Saying that I could do demon magic would only force the hand of Rynn on trying to make me his Scion instead of Ivy's to control such a power. Or even worse: Natalie could be the one doing it. Perhaps that was the reason Borgia wanted me as well). I could save all those persons, but I didn't think Juveuos would play along with that. All of those people too naïve or greedy enough to risk their souls dealing with this demon. People that I had never met were haunting my thoughts. However, I knew Skimmer; I could see the Conner Sisters right behind Natalie's back, covering her again. They certainly didn't love me, and they might love seeing me dead or suffering, at least Skimmer might. But I could save them. I had to go with my plan.

I hadn't even thought of those strangers until I felt the weight of their debts passing to me. I could be reckless and risk the anger of Natalie, but there was no guarantee at all that Ceri could know the way of releasing the debts. That certainly had to be a demon secret. I saw Al freeing Ceri's soul, but then I didn't have my reaper senses to at least try to know how he did it. And I was certainly scared at that time. Maybe it was easier than I thought. But what if my elf friend didn't know how to do it? Besides, the master vamps would take her as a future target, and they surely would insist on knowing the source of my info. Natalie would never risk Skimmer's life and future on my word alone, not again.

I felt my heart breaking into pieces, I had to choose. Saving only these ones around my table, and knowing I could save more. Or risking Ceri, my family and a lot more of danger from the coven, because if they knew I had demon debts on me, they would fear me much more than they already did. The fact they had been lying low didn't mean they had quit their intentions of aligning me with them, or killing me. They certainly had to be waiting for their chance now that some of them had been exposed as black magic practitioners because of me, and that unknown spy that was keeping an eye on me the entire time, that was another one I should be worried about. I had to lay low as well, for the sake of my children.

"Rachel, you cannot save everybody, now it's not the time for your savior complex to kick in!" Jenks chastised me, the pixie dust he still was pouring turned purple, now he was more concerned than angry. "You have kids now, and one of them is little and vulnerable, while the other hasn't even been born yet, now you have to think on them first." The pixie said softly.

"I know!" I sighed, my babies had to be first to me now, and I stared at the table, my gaze going distant and unfocused. My babies needed both of us, and I had to do the best for them. No matter if I was condemning other people's souls._ I will forever hurt for those I couldn't save. _I felt like a demon, preying on other people's lives to my benefit. It wasn't a nice feeling. I didn't notice I was silent, and my face so torn apart by my thoughts that all the vampires were beginning to worry until Ivy moved me.

I just was trying to get used of the idea I couldn't do a thing, and I felt a strange tingle on my hand, I saw my knuckles, there was blood on them, demon blood, and my hidden marks were reacting to it, absorbing it. I felt sick to my stomach. I almost could picture the image in my head, something from the demon filtering inside my skin. Claire had said I had reaped Barcharolloael not just on a magical level but a physical one. That time I was dying and I couldn't feel it, but now, the sensation crawling up inside my arm was nauseating.

"Dear heart, are you alright?" Ivy asked lifting my face to her and bending a bit to see me closer.

"I'm sorry." I murmured. Jenks was still bitching, but I hadn't heard him. Now even he was concerned.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Jenks shook his head, getting closer to me. I couldn't scream at him I was being contaminated with more demonic DNA, and the weight on my soul seemed to multiply at that moment.

"No, I'm not ok. I can't save all the others. I don't even know who they are. But if I have a chance to get out of this without any demon marks, that is the only path I can see right now. I cannot be ok with dooming them to this one or another demon's whimsies. But I don't see how else I can do this. Skimmer's life and soul is going to cost a lot more than 3 souls. This demon has dozens of debts to collect. I can feel them like ball chains hanging on my soul." I rubbed my face with both hands.

"Those will always be on my conscience." I stared at my knuckles again. I felt the weird sensation reaching my ribcage. The bitter flavor of bile came to my mouth from my stomach. I hadn't noticed that my eyes were so watery until I could see nothing amongst the tears running freely out of them. But strangely, there were no sobs, no shaky breathing, I was barely breathing at all, the weight on my conscience sank down in a heartbeat and it was way too large now for me to even move a bit. It was like the soul crushing pain of accepting smut but so much worse, smut you could remove but I knew this would never go away. I was wounding my soul and I would never be able to fix it. I could feel the concern growing in Ivy.

"Rachel, they doomed themselves by dealing with the demon in the first place. You cannot save everybody." Ivy said quietly to me, I hugged her and hid my face against her middle, with a single tearing sob. She hugged me fiercely. And I felt the kick from my unborn baby vamp in my cheek. As if she proposed to comfort me as well. I felt her calling to my mind. And then I knew, I had to protect her, I was the grown up, I was her mother, I had to keep her and her witch sister safe. No matter the cost.

Ivy's developed senses were acting, I was feeling sick, and she knew it before I did, suddenly she lifted me and used her vamp speed, running with me in her arms and I couldn't understand why until she put me on my knees over the toilet inside the bathroom. My stomach twisted painfully and began emptying while Ivy was holding my hair with one hand, and keeping me steady with an arm around my chest.

Even if my body was experiencing a violent reaction, I could feel one of Natalie's living vamps bodyguards, and one of Rynn's just outside, watching us. David came into the bathroom as well, I could feel his worry. Turn it I couldn't even throw up in my own home in privacy.

"Rache?" he called to me quietly when Ivy sat me down on the closed toilet, while she was cleaning my face with a wet towel.

"I'm… fine." I said numbed. "Thinking has never been my thing. It's depressing." I forced a smile. Jenks was hovering over me, exchanging very guilty looks with Ivy. "Please, Ivy, I need a change of clothing, I'm a mess. I have to take a quick shower. I'm fine. Go to the kitchen. I will be there in few minutes." I said in a hoarse whisper. "I know I can't save everybody, I have to face the fact I'm about to doom all those people, and I cannot afford either that Z could see me as this mess. I have to harden myself, and I will. I will." I clenched my jaws.

"Please, go check on Tammy before heading to the kitchen, she's restless, and I don't want a demon near her, she is capable of changing and escaping from mom and Erica. We still don't know her limits, and if she is tempted to use magic she will." I shivered a bit.

"But, Rachel, you need me." Ivy caressed the side of my head, I leaned my cheek on her hand.

"_And I will have you and I can collapse in your arms when this is over. I will, you know I will."_ I forced another smile. She kissed my temple.

"_I'm sorry this has turned out like__ this."_ She changed into our private communication naturally, we were very connected, and it was very easy passing from spoken words to cozy thoughts, shared with sweet gazes.

"_It isn't your fault, my love. It was my idea and I should have thought about this more before making the plan. Now, I have to go through it. I know you will be there for me later." _I smiledweakly.

"_Always!__ …Rachel, this is necessary, you said it yourself and you will do the right thing, as you always do. You don't know, maybe Ceri or Claire could help you; you said you own the debts. If you have to go with plan B, maybe you can have a chance to save more, but if not, it is not your fault, they were the ones calling the demon and making deals with him. They knew and ignored the risks, it is not your fault!"_ she stated passionately, giving me a warm hug_._

"_Come on, dear heart. You are trying to keep our babies safe, and you are doing a great job so far. But you are shutting me out, why?"_ this time I could feel her hurting, yes, I shut her out from my feelings the moment I felt the marks absorbing the demon's blood, it was instinctual, one way to protect her and my child.

"_Because I don't want you to feel this, is awful, and everything you feel, Morgan feels too, we don't want our baby vamp doing another stunt like last night, I'm shutting __out Tammy as well, she is very restless, go to see her and calm her down before going to the kitchen."_ I insisted

David went out with Jenks on his shoulder. They both knew the way Ivy and I could communicate now. They both knew I needed her more than anyone and they were uncomfortable witnessing a private moment between us. So, they just went out.

Only 30 seconds later Cali entered the bathroom with a towel, a bathrobe and an anguished grimace on the face. I was willing myself to be numbed once more. I was still far from finishing this freaking night, and I already wanted to go to bed and never get out again.

"Ivy?" she called, I was still sitting on the toilet, my eyes lost on Ivy's.

"Please, Ivy I need some comfy shoes. I don't think I can walk in heels until my legs stop hurting." I focused on her and I could see the extreme alarm on her eyes, although she remained calmed. "Hi, Cali, thank you so much" I looked at her while she was putting the towel and the bathrobe in the hanger outside the shower curtain "… if you please, I stink, I need a shower, I will be fine with some hot water."

"Do you need any help?" the young were asked me softly.

"I can bathe myself, Cali. Thanks. Please, close the door, whatever happens, don't let Tammy come out of the nursery. I don't want her exposed to this madness." I forced my shaken limbs to move. "I will be fine, don't be so worried." I asked, but the eyes of both Ivy and Cali were still locked on me, clearly showing they didn't believe me.

I sighed and I began to unfasten my belt. "Really, Cali, I'm shy, I don't get naked in front of anyone that is not Ivy." I crossed my arms over my chest, letting undone the buttons of my jeans. Ivy's possessiveness kicked in instantly. My lover frowned. Cali's face got pale and her eyes snapped to the wall, it was clear she really didn't want to piss Ivy off and I found a little smile on my face, a genuine smile at that sign of my pack mate's respect for my life mate.

"Ok, I will be just outside." Cali went out quickly, closing the door behind her.

"I can help you. You are still too pained and weak." Ivy said still wanting to stay.

"_I feel like a monster, condemning__ all those people's souls, but that they don't have to know. You already know, and you know I will be fine eventually, babe."_

"You need to attend the guests, Ivy, and check on Tammy too. I'm fine. We will have some cocoa later." I said for the benefit of our spies, they were still out the bathroom door. Cocoa, Ivy and I only drink it when one of us was in distress, and she nodded. Still she didn't want to go, but she knew the master vamps would suspect of treachery if she didn't do it.

"We will talk." She caressed my head and kissed my forehead.

I let myself to take a deep breath. I had to go with the plan. There was no other choice that wasn't too dangerous in the long term. I had to protect my own babies first. Growing up really sucked dirty dishwater and damnation, but I had to make a choice and I made it. Now I just had to learn to live with it. I forced myself to go under the shower. The hot water helped my tensed muscles. Ivy was right, they, whomever they were, had dealt with Zarthimeatreal and they knew the consequences, or they chose to ignore them as Nick was ignoring them. Yes, demons made seem so simple and so easy to get away with the prize. Many people never appreciated the fact they had a soul, and many of them had tainted souls long before they made any deal with a demon.

I had to learn how to think if I wanted another peaceful night of guiltless sleep in my life. I didn't take as long as I would wish to bathe. Time was running out, very soon the demon would be awake. I had to get a grip on myself before that happened.

As soon as I let myself get lost in the comforting heat and the water washing out my sweat, a new spell came to my mind, I casted it without thinking. I felt the weight in my soul growing even more difficult to bear, but then I felt peace, I felt little bolts of energy going into my new marks over the ribs. Very similar to the one I felt when I touched Skimmer's blood. Now, I really owned the debts, no way anyone could take them away from me, they were a part of me. The DNA of Zarthimeatreal in me had done it. I was half lost in the relieving thoughts when I heard the shriek of the demon.

I thought I had some more time, but my marks itched begging to release themselves, and the savage rage blossomed for a second, roaring inside me. My eyes changed, and my new marks in the chest, ribcage and legs made themselves visible for a second. I made an effort to control my reaper side while I dried my body and my hair quickly, but even when I could control it, the rage was still boiling inside me.

I came out in a hurry, only with the bathrobe on. Cali was just outside as she promised and she looked at me a bit surprised by my quick and energetic strides to the kitchen. Now that my conscience had reassurance on the fate of the unknown victims of the demon, my anger resurfaced. I could hear the demon shouting and threatening everybody, trying to bully them into freeing him. But as expected, the vampires remained impassive with unreadable faces; the only ones that seemed strained by the demon's outburst were the twin witches.

I was frowning and he shut up the moment he locked his eyes with mine, I could feel his fear and the anger at the same time. I wasn't even tapping a line, but surely he could see something in my eyes, something deeper than annoyance.

"This is a very quiet and decent Inderlander neighborhood, Z." I said coldly. "You will not raise your voice in my house again. I hear as much as a whimper from you while I'm dressing and you will regret it because you are wearing out my patience with your stupidities. If you make me lose my temper, you will know true humiliation. This is nothing; you haven't begun to know humiliation yet. If you manage to make me angry, you might end in a very different form for the rest of your life, in a silver cage, over a salt bed, unable to say another word." I said to him in a normal voice, but as determined and icy that he believed every word. He knew I meant it. I turned around and walked again to the archway leading to the bedrooms. "Excuse me; it will only take me 10 minutes to come back." I turned briefly to say respectfully to Rynn.

Cali was waiting for me in the archway and she was blinking surprised by my sudden change of mood. She wasn't the only one. I could see the surprise as well in the eyes of Maurice and the blonde living vampire female bodyguard of Natalie. They were following me, from outside the bathroom to the kitchen, this time the bodyguards stayed in the kitchen.

Ivy had left black slacks on the bed, and a green blouse I had never seen before. Maybe Erica brought a little present for me as well along with the baby clothes she had bought to our daughters. Certainly the color enhanced the color of my eyes; it was silk, with a high neckline, but not enough to cover my neck in any way.

A totally bare neck or a totally covered neck were considered very big vamp turns on and Ivy certainly didn't want me teasing other vampires. A black sweater of cashmere with three discrete buttons was the final touch, I sincerely couldn't believe that simple clothes could look so good on me, but Ivy's taste was impeccable. I took flat black shoes which belonged to Ivy. I had never seen her wearing them; they were new, maybe she bought them only to have them in case she needed not make her height so blatant. They suited me at the moment; I really didn't want to wear heels. I combed my hair and sighed; the clothes smelled so good, Ivy's scent clung to them making me feel loved and they were a reminder as well to every vampire of who I belonged to. Of whom my heart belongs to whilst made me remember the safety I always felt in her arm. Her scent was all I needed to feel supported and loved.

The door opened a bit and Cali peaked inside, she seemed a bit relieved of seeing me completely dressed and combing my hair.

"Are you sure you are fine, Rachel? You seem… numbed." Cali said hesitantly

"I am. It's the only way I can deal with this right now." I shrugged my shoulders. I left the comb on the dresser table. "Later, we can talk, Cali. Thanks."

I knew what she meant, I saw my face in the mirror, and it was empty, but at the same time hardened. My exhaustion however was still visible. I was angry with myself, but I had to use that anger to do what I had to do. I was a reaper and my abilities were mostly unknown even to myself. But after my outburst of rage, my body had resented the energy wasted and I felt physically drained again. I had to do something to get energized; I couldn't afford being weak now. That thought triggered something on the back of my mind. I rushed to the kitchen, even if I had shaky legs again.

I found a very angry demon waiting for me, even if he was badly injured, with several broken bones. Even if I had taken all the magic away from him, except the one transformation spell he was currently using to take my form. Zarthimeatreal was really infuriated.

"You will regret the moment you were born, Rachel Mariana Morgan!" he hissed at me, I frowned, I didn't even stop, I took my splat gun from the place I had hidden it in the counter and shot a sleepy charm at him.

"I'm not in the mood right now!" I growled putting the splat gun on top of the counter and headed to the spelling stove whilst he fell asleep.

I went directly there and began to chop some ingredients the back of my mind chose using my hands at reaper's will. The less I knew, the better. That was the way the elemental magic worked. I didn't try to reason with myself, or to see what I was doing, I was absentminded.

Ivy came to hug me from behind, her hands crossed over my stomach.

"_Are you feeling better?"_ she asked me inside my head while kissing my neck.

"_I need to energize myself, babe, I cannot call Juveuos and let him see me as a weak witch. I have to seem strong. However, this is just temporary, and I will collapse as soon the effect is over, be nea__r, and catch me when I trip over my own feet."_ I warned her. She tightened the embrace on my middle.

"_I have your back, dear heart."_ She began to worry again. The rest of the vampires were looking at me with curiosity.

"An invigorating potion, you surely need it." Isabella said understandingly. "Although I couldn't see all the ingredients, it's very similar to one recipe going on for generations in our family. But it has mean side effects as soon it wears out." She commented. She had moved to see closer to see what I was doing, perhaps at the silent order of her mistress.

"Mean side effects?" Ivy asked her.

"Yes, it is very effective, she will instantly regain strength and focus, but for a short period of time. It's a real boost, a lot of energy, like waking from a long restoring sleep. Much better than a caffeine boost, stronger too. However, once the effect has passed, you will collapse, Rachel, you will almost faint, you will be drained out for some hours." She pretended to explain to us, but she was really letting her mistress know what I was doing.

"I know, but I need some energy now." I nodded. She seemed a bit impressed.

"Do you ever consult a book while making a potion?" she asked me.

"Of course I do, when I'm learning a new one, and when I'm not too familiar with it, but this one, I know by heart." I shrugged my shoulders, my legs were still shaky, and the vampires could see that."I'm a runner, Isabella, I had to know some healing potions and spells, as well as certain other useful spells in my line of work." I explained to her. I didn't have the sheltered luxurious life style they were used to.

The smell of the brew was intense, and strong. This was surely going to taste like troll crap. But the back of my mind was in control. I passed the potion through a filter and took a deep breath before gulping it down. My fear was totally baseless, the taste was strong but good, the first potion in my life with a good flavor. I felt my strength coming back in a wave. It was almost like a reanimating drug effect. In addition, the potion gave me new energy, I felt my legs going stronger, and my mind began to focus on the task to do. Ivy hadn't left me alone, or stopped hugging me the entire time.

"Rachel?" Ivy called me. "Feeling better?" she asked me quietly, leaning her head on my shoulder to have a look on my face.

"I was thinking, maybe I was way ahead of the facts, I am his mistress, since the moment the bonding spell was completed I am the rightful owner of all of his belongings, and debts to collect. I really don't know how that works, Ivy. But I will know pretty soon." I leaned my back on her chest for a second; my lover kissed my temple and my cheek.

"That's my witch!" she murmured in my ear, I could feel her proud smile against my skin.

"Hey, I feel a lot better, but the moment you see me tripping over my own feet that is the time I'm out, I will faint almost, I will be a useless jelly. So, keep close and catch me." That sounded like a joke, but Ivy knew better, besides I had to warn Rynn about it as well.

"Sure, dear. I have your back." She nodded tightening slightly her embrace on me, reassuring me one more time, this time for the benefit of the audience.

"Now, I have to deal with him, my time is running out and there is not much left, honey. I hate leaving your arms, but I have to." I kissed her cheek. "Thanks, I needed the support."

"Ok, don't get killed." Ivy asked me once more and brushed her lips against mine slightly before she let me go. I took a mug and filled it with salt water from my container. I tossed the cold water on the demon.

Getting a cold bath is not a great way to wake up from any sleep, especially one magically induced. The demon woke up at once, and he felt the pain from the broken bones, and remembered the humiliation he was still suffering. I almost took pity on him…almost, because instantly I felt his anger, and shame, and his desire for revenge.

He stared at me with dagger eyes, gathering himself, while starting to pant due to the physical distress he felt so strongly after the short period of sleeping.

"That's Ok, Rachel Mariana Morgan. Enjoy your little victory, it's not going to last. You will be dead very soon." He said in a slightly squeaky voice, strained by the broken bones. He was still baneful and confident.

"Why is that, Z? Is someone going to look for you if you aren't home by dawn?" I smirked at him sparing a sideways glance at him while I walked to lean on the counter next to him. He clenched his jaws. The demon was still using my form, and I had to say, I didn't look pretty. He had a black eye, swollen lips and nose, the hair was a mess, and the jaw in the right side of the face was purple.

"Does he have a wife?" Isabella blinked.

I chuckled unconcerned.

"I think he is the wife" The demon turned red. "Yep." I giggled. "That's a reaction… It seems Z has a boyfriend." I intoned teasingly while I left my hands crossed on top of the counter, in an almost casual way.

Isabella blinked again.

"Well, now that you said that. Zarthimeatreal behaved weirdly around Barcharolloael." She said shyly. The demon firstly clenched the jaws, and after few seconds of consideration he decided it was ok for me to know that valuable piece of info.

"Well, now you know, Rachel Mariana Morgan. Maybe I fell into your trap like an amateur, but Rollo is going to kill you for what you have done to me. He is stronger, he is a warrior. You have doomed yourself." Zarthimeatreal said at last. "And I will have all my debts back, and I will kill you two Isabella Marie Conner and Melissa Katharine Conner." He said as his confidence built up again, thinking of his lover. I laughed.

"Oh, dude! I wouldn't be so sure if I were in your shoes. I don't think Rollo will be coming any time soon or at all. Not with Minias after him." I retorted with the same confidence. Firstly, he seemed appalled, and the fear intensified inside him, I could see another flash of a murderous scene passing like a breeze from his brain to mine. But then he frowned again. He stared at my face trying to figure out what I knew.

"Rollo will come, he wanted a shot at you at any cost, Rachel Mariana Morgan. Even if he takes a while, as soon as any demon knows what you have done to me, you will wish a million times to be dead until the worlds collide." Zarthimeatreal's venomous voice made Ivy creased her brow. She still was near to me, across the counter, just in front of me.

"I was hoping you would be a reasonable demon, Z." I told him, with a carefully tired facial expression.

"You will pay for this. I will have all of mine back, and I will kill you as soon as I have the chance to do it." He promised me with my voice.

"Well, Z. I knew the risks of doing this. And I'm willing to give you one more chance to get out of here free, you will only lose everything you had, but you will have the chance of tricking more witches and humans into bad deals. I will keep Skimmer, and all your debts, you only have to give me the counter curse to free her from Borgia's influence…" I was saying in a reasonable fashion but he didn't let me finish my offer.

"Never!" he hissed pained. I sighed shaking my head. I spared a glance to the master vamps.

"… You turned out to be the most stubborn and uncooperative jack ass I have ever met. I really never wanted a demon familiar in the first place, that was only a tool to get you to deal with me from an advantageous position." I explained to him in a pensive way.

"Too late, bitch!" he hissed again.

"Yes, it's too late for you, Z. I gave you more than one chance to agree with me and this is the very last one. Will you free Skimmer and the Conner Sisters if I release you from being my familiar?" I asked politely.

"Never!... You will never have them!" this time he spat at me, but too weakly to reach me. "Now you have to deal with the consequences. Perhaps you have turned me into the ultimate joke for all demon kind until the worlds collide, but you are going to pay dearly for it. And you know it!" His hatred was clear as day in my voice, and the reddish eyes. I sighed shaking my head.

"Just remember, Z. You were the one turning down all the chances I gave you. Once I call him, I have to make the deal, and you will be lost, and probably dead. I'm sorry for you and your pride and stubbornness on all this matter. Good bye, Z." I said to him deadpan.

"What?" he stared at me dumfounded for a second. "Are you planning on calling yourself another demon? I think I really damaged your brain when I was trying to kill you." He mocked me with a pleased giggle.

"Yes. Juveuos, I summon thee." I said plainly, emotionless.

Zarthimeatreal cackled to his own regret, the broken ribs made him cough. Nothing happened for some seconds.

"Are you out of your mind? Where did you find that name? That's not even his real name, and you didn't prepare the summoning in any way? Is that supposed to scare me?" he mocked me again.

"Is there any use of making any protection against him, Z?" I smirked devilishly to him, he was about to mock me even more. But I didn't pay attention to him because all of us could hear the little commotion in the depths of the church.

Some screams and rushing from feminine voices, warning each other. We all turned towards the archway leading to our home accommodations. We heard someone falling to the floor, and the angry barking of a little wolf cub. Then we could see her running towards the kitchen, and Erica diving to the floor, passing a crawling Serena to grab the black wolf cub in one hand with a quick stretch of the arm.

"I got you!" she puffed closing her hand over Tammy's middle. But Tammy squirmed out of her hand the second she wailed and her teen Auntie loosened the grip on her, scared of hurting her little niece. That moment Tammy began to run again inside the kitchen with all the speed the little legs allowed her. She didn't seem clumsy or shaky anymore, she had mastered the wolf form despite the chubby stomach and the still short legs and she was in reaper mode. I could feel the elemental fire building up inside her.

She stopped just in front of the demon, her ears all the way back, and she stared at him, the instincts had taken over her, she was about to kill him with a wave of invisible fire.

"_No, Ivy, don't touch her, she's distilling elemental fire__; she would burn you!" _I warned my lover as she was already getting closer to get Tammy after running around the counter island in the blink of an eye. The cute growling that wanted to be menacing was much more effective now that her fur was standing up on her back. And the true wild feeling, typical of the savage reaper part of us, coming from who knew where was evident in her fierce staring… the same righteous feeling of extermination I felt every time a demon was near me. But I was an adult and I could compromise in order to keep our secret. She was a baby. She only felt the threat and the desire to attack, so she acted accordingly.

I moved swiftly and bent a second to take her by the furry middle, lifting her to the height of my eyes.

"No, Tammy. No!" I told her firmly, but reasonably, connecting with her, trying to make her understand we couldn't use our powers in front of witnesses. Her eyes locked with mine, she didn't recognize yet the meaning of secrecy, but she was acknowledging me as a more powerful reaper, the same way I always admired Claire even if I didn't know a thing. My beautiful black wolf cub relaxed, first her ears, and then the fur on her back settled down and the blue of her eyes shrunk a bit.

"You have to calm down and stay out of this, alright?" I asked her softly, while I was caressing her ears and her back with the other hand, in a soothing way, once I got her attention I cradled her with my arms over my chest. "Everything is under control, and I'm in charge here, little one." I let her know, and she barked at me, and licked my nose, posing her front paws on my cheeks, standing all stretched from her rear paws taking support on my upper chest, my arm was around her and one hand grabbing still her middle. "Ok?" I demanded quietly.

My black wolf cub turned the head to see again at the demon, and snarled towards him. It was a contemptuous snarl, while the fire was subsiding inside her. At that moment I felt the burnt amber smell intensifying around us. She smelt it too, but she didn't want to go. She growled to the demon tied to the chair. Zarthimeatreal was too astonished to say a word.

"Yes, my love, you're right, he's nothing. Maybe if we had more time I could turn him into a mouse and then put a long silver chain on him to drop him inside the cages of your Auntie Erica's owls. See how many times he could get out with all his limps still attached to him." I joked trying to relax her a bit more with the mental image. I used to enjoy cartoons when I was a kid.

The rough and manly laughter didn't take me by surprise, but it did most of the vampires and the demon tied up to my picnic chair. The bodyguards got tenser as the formidable and ravishing warrior demon just embodied himself right in front of me. He seemed in good spirits. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ah, there is nothing like a woman's touch! You can be really mean, green eyes." He pointed but then he blinked once focusing his eyes on my black cub, I had Tammy cradled against my middle by now. My daughter turned just like me to see him as well. "It also sounds like fun…you women are much more refined to torture than us males." He commented from his daunting stature.

"Hi, Juveuos." I greeted him coolly.

My black cub was taking a good look at him and assessing his power. He still felt like a volcano of magical power just about a second from erupting. Then common sense or perhaps fear hit Tammy for the first time in her short life, and she squirmed out of my grip on her way under my sweater to hide from him.

"Whoa, honey!" I twisted, trying to keep her safe from a fall giggling from the tingles she was giving me on her way to my back. "It looks like she has better instincts than me!" I joked. Ivy was at my back already, she recovered our baby safely, taking her out of my sweater by the small of my back.

"Thank you, dear." I felt the little paws climbing up my back. Then the tiny black head was peaking over my right shoulder. Ivy had to support our baby, Tammy was very afraid and almost frantic. I could feel my vamp's hands supporting the furry little body, against me, so she couldn't fall to the ground. Although the little claws were already digging against the fabric of my clothes, the fabric surely couldn't bear the weight.

This time her blue eyes stared at him cautiously, Tammy whined quietly in my ear. I could feel her pleading with me to run away with her, her mom and little sis.

"My, my. Is that your daughter, Rachel Mariana Morgan?" he seemed baffled again for a second. I could tell he already knew by now my baby was a reaper as well.

"Yes." I nodded proudly. Now he had seen her, and there was no case on lying, the best odds were to act normal. But fear stung my conscience for a second.

"She is very accomplished; she is so young and already is making a complicated transformation spell…Hi, little one!" His massive hand moved playfully flexing the long and strong calloused fingers. The manly wild face was softened and showed admiration. "By the fur, I would say she has black hair, as your mate does, Rachel."

"She has indeed black hair." I was in front of Ivy and our baby. My lover trying to avoid the little claws from damaging my sweater as they were already stuck on the fabric. I had to be in front to protect them. Anyways, I rather be me receiving any magical attack than any of them.

"And she has blue eyes." He bent a bit by the waist to stare at her closely. "Hey, baby, I'm not going to hurt you." He said softly directly to her, but even doing that he still sustained a macho image without a problem, he had an undeniable alpha male aura. Then my black wolf cub, seeing she couldn't move anymore her trapped paws, turned into baby again. I could feel her little hands grabbing my sweater fiercely over my shoulder and her unruly ebony hair brushed my neck for a second, Ivy barely had time to cradle her properly in her arms. I took the sweater off, turning to her, to wrap our baby's nudity with it.

"Whoa! You're a mother, Rachel Mariana Morgan!" Juveuos stated almost proudly while he still was ogling our baby. Tammy stared back at him. Now I could note her reaper instincts were working, because now she looked him right in the eye, distrustful, but curious. "Hi, blue eyes, you are a little beauty, aren't you?" he directed to her the comment.

"Dah?" my baby stated still a bit distrustful. He chuckled quietly.

"That's right, I'm not going to hurt you, little witch."

Tammy laughed and mumbled some baby talk before shivering a bit.

"She's cold, she has no fur anymore…Honey, could you please take her to Mom? I'll make another bottle of warm tea for her." I asked my lover. Ivy was already tense and fearing the ravishing demon was planning on courting our baby in a near future. He seemed mesmerized by her. Baby snatching was much more an elven hobby but maybe Juveuos was considering having a go.

"Yes, she could catch a cold." My lover went to the archway where Erica was almost as red as a tomato. We both, Juveuos and me, watched Ivy handling over our baby to her teen sister, and Rica ran inside holy ground before the warning glance she got from Ivy. Tammy waved an arm towards me, and it could seem she was saying good bye to him as well, but I could feel my baby claiming for me. Juveuos stared all the time until he couldn't see our baby anymore. The daunting demon remained staring at the empty archway for a little while. Ivy returned to my side positively freaked out, fearing already Tammy liked Juveuos and I filled a kettle to boil some water.

"She is gorgeous and very talented…I was hoping she looked more like you, green eyes, but your mate is a beautiful woman as well, so the little one will be a ravishing looking witch when she grows up." He commented turning his gaze to me again.

"A heartbreaker." I nodded with a little sigh, remembering Renata's words when she heard our baby looked like Ivy. Perhaps, my unconscious mind was trying to tell him, _"no way, she will break your heart too, so don't hope she will love you."_

"I should have brought a gift for the happy arrival of your heir to the worlds, Rachel. I would have if I had known. I was beginning to think you would never call me." He said leaning his hip confidently on the counter, in a manly and casual way, very natural despite his size and warrior clothes. He was comfortable on his skin.

By this time Zarthimeatreal was shaking in fear very noticeably. He was positively terrified by the familiarity Juveuos and I were treating each other with.

"Well, to be frank, I wasn't sure about calling you, J. May I call you J?" I asked while I was taking a sterilized baby bottle from the container. Ivy was putting a tea bag inside the kettle that was already steaming with a familiar and cozy sound.

"Why not? I like practicality in a woman. And I was the one offering you assistance at your will, green eyes, why you hesitated?" He smiled to me, a manly coquettish smile.

"Coffee?" I offered him giving to Ivy the bottle.

"Yes, please!" he nodded unconcerned by the baffled witnesses and pleased by the offer. I knew he was aware of everyone on the premises, including the tiniest pixie. "It seems you have a formal meeting in here." He commented as if he was talking about the weather.

"Sort of…You see, J, The master vampires asked me for assistance to free some living vampires from a curse." I explained on my way to the coffee maker. I filled two big mugs from the fresh carafe then I walked normally back to him. He took the one I offered to him without words, smiling at me as I was smiling to him, like old friends.

"Thanks, green eyes."

"You're welcome, J." I nodded and he raked Skimmer's body with his piercing eyes, while tasting the hot beverage with evident pleasure. Natalie's eyes lost a bit of brown. Rynn's were the same. He didn't like the fact that I hadn't explained myself before calling Juveuos.

"Aha, that's a demon curse, a modification from a spying curse to be precise. Warrior demons used it all the time when the war with Elven kind was in the most heated point… But Rachel, you caught the wrong demon. There's no possible way this pathetic excuse for elven shit could make that spying curse." His eyes rested a brief second on Zarthimeatreal and Z's trembling became almost hysterical. My copied face was contorted in clear terror.

"I know he didn't do the curse, Barcharolloael was the one performing it. But Rollo ceded his rights to claim the living vamp to Z." I explained to him. Juveuos laughed again.

"I see…and you decided take her from him by turning him into your familiar? Clever and risky. But you wouldn't be you if you didn't do things differently from all the other witches." He said amused. "So, now you own the living vampire, and all the other debts he had to collect."

"That's right, but I don't have a clue of how to lift the curse." I explained and his laughter filled the kitchen again. Ivy was delivering the hot bottle to Serena in the archway. Serena glanced at me very worried, I smiled to her reassuringly.

"Anyways, she is yours now, and you can release her from the slavery. Living vampires make rebellious slaves, but they bend eventually if their master has a strong hand to treat them." He said very naturally, as if he wasn't talking about other people's lives. That was a big hint of the very little concern demons held any other race. Natalie hissed in anger at this words. J's lips twitched and I could see and feel his amusement twinkling in his eyes. Had he said that on purpose for his own amusement?

Juveuos turned to the vamps, his eyes calm raking over them as he sipped his coffee; ley line energy pulsing out of him. The vamps shivered and some bodyguards dropped their gazes, Natalie diverted it to Rynn, and Rynn to Natalie. "…as I said, green eyes, as long as the master has a strong hand, they make semi decent slaves" This time was no response from Natalie, even if I could feel her anger. J grinned smugly at me for a moment.

"I don't want a slave, I don't believe in slavery." I retorted cautiously controlling my voice from showing any emotion.

"Well, nobody is perfect, green eyes." He teased me. "So, why did you call me?" he took another sip of coffee, visibly enjoying it.

"I don't want a slave, nor a demon familiar, J. My baby requires attention 24/7. I have no time to tame him. As you said, I know that I can break him eventually. He has nothing but baseless pride. Even if toying with him for a while could be fun. But my baby has the alarming tendency to use magic whenever she feels like it, and I have to be very careful with her until she learns her limits. I cannot be distracted from my motherly duties by a stubborn ass wannabe demon." I said concerned.

"You have almost broken him already." Juveuos nodded. "Making him exercise running away from strong and fast predators is a magnificent idea, although I don't think he could survive even the first try out." He chuckled softly sparing a mean look to Z. "You are softly cruel, Rachel. That's one of my favorite combos on women!" he winked an eye at me flirtatiously. Ivy came to my side, I was now leaning on the counter again, the same he was, facing him. She passed an arm around my waist, marking her territory. Juveuos' eyes filled with amusement. He liked to see the jealousy on my mate.

"Thanks, J. Coming from you that is a huge compliment." I said and he nodded pleased by my acknowledgement to his superiority. "So, what do you say? Do you want a little familiar? He already masters the potion making and the language, so you don't have to train him. It's a bargain almost no one offers."

"That's very true…he could be very useful to me training the other familiars." Juveuos deemed out loud. "What do you want in return?"

"The counter curse to free the living vampires, and to erase the marks on the Conner Sisters. No debt for them whatsoever, and of course, no marks for me." I stated confidently. The mighty warrior demon laughed again.

"You are bold and ambitious, yet other fine qualities I admire in females." Juveuos said in a very good mood. "But I'm afraid that liking the way you put it is not enough, green eyes. One mark." He counter offered almost playful.

"Come on, J. You haven't heard about the bonus yet." I complained in the same playful, charming way.

"Is there a bonus?" he asked intrigued.

"Yep… There's a conspiracy going on in Ever After."

"Aha, there's always a conspiracy going on in Ever After, Rachel. Demons have grown into a bunch of spineless assholes always making power plays and schemes to get better positions. They picked up a lot from the deviousness way to behave of Elves. It's disgusting." He shrugged his shoulders, laying the empty mug on the counter.

"Yes, but this is not only one ambitious demon trying to get a better position, J. This one involves Minias planning an attempt on his former lover's life." I said carefully avoiding mentioning Newt, it would be a reckless thing in front of an ambitious witch as was Melissa Katharine Conner. She would summon her and sign her death sentence, along with those people around her at the time. If Newt was in one of her raging episodes, and being summoned by a witch must be a trigger for her madness.

Juveuos frowned and I could feel his anger like a crushing wave, not only emotionally because of my empathy, but his skin and hair began to sparkle with ley line energy, blooming all over his muscular and massive body. The Conner sisters trembled and hugged each other terrified. All the vampires tensed, including Ivy by my side. I caressed her hand over my hip calmingly. I was numbed.

"I thought Minias was…" Juveuos said trying to contain himself.

"He's not, he's very much alive, and gathering a group of demons to support him. He thinks for some reason they don't need you know who anymore. And Minias is holding a huge grudge against her. This is the bonus; Z, here, knows all about that little conspirator, he is one of his supporters, as Rollo is. So you can have some fun while you extract all the information he has on that party of fools." I said coldly.

Juveuos puffed very angry turning violently to the immobilized demon.

"Please, please, don't kill me, I will tell you everything, just don't…" Zarthimeatreal began to stutter while openly crying like a school girl. The enormous calloused hand of the formidable demon backslapped him in the face (my face), the sound was explosive. The chair flew to the nearest wall, and broke into pieces, as the jaw of Z did. He smashed into the solid wall for a second before falling on the linoleum floor completely unconscious.

Everyone was a bit shocked, now the vampires knew this demon strength wasn't to be underestimated, he nearly killed the already beaten demon with one single blow and wasn't even a real attack, just a slap. Besides, he was still radiating ley line energy. A line of blood drops from Z's face fell on me as I moved to cover Ivy, staining my new green silk blouse in a line from my chest to my waist. I saw the line of drops over the linoleum as well, drawing the path he flew until the wall where a huge stain was left, and a little pool of blood was already forming under Z's head.

I felt my new hidden marks over the ribs somehow absorbing some more of the blood, but the disgusting sensation got covered by my numbness. Juveuos puffed angrily trying to get a grip on his temper while I took a paper towel to clean my clothes.

"I'm sorry, green eyes. I lost my temper for a second." He said when three seconds later he turned to find me cleaning myself.

"Don't worry, J. He has that effect on everybody, I left his face in that state, and I don't usually punch people in the face." I shrugged my shoulders. "So, what do you say?"

"Deal, I need 20 hours to make the counter curse, I haven't got that stored. I haven't seen it in over 3 thousand years. I will have it for midnight tomorrow. No marks for you, you just have saved a lot of demon lives. As for the marks on the witches, I will prepare a little potion; with that you will be able to release them as well, but I won't teach you how to release anyone else."

"That sounds fair, where will the delivering point be for the potions and the counter curse? Here?" I proposed.

"Here." He nodded. "Again, I'm sorry for ruining your clothes." He seemed truly troubled by that.

"It's ok, J." I smiled to him.

"I hope you have fresh coffee as well tomorrow, I have to hand that to you, Rachel. You have delicious coffee." His mood was again good not only on the surface; he could be as volatile as Newt was.

"Thanks, but that's Ivy's merit, not mine. She was the one choosing the brand and she has excellent taste." I said, passing a calming arm behind her tense back.

"Indeed, your mate is not only a beautiful female, but has a great taste in more than one ground way!" he said flirtatiously with a manly coquettish smile. He walked towards Z and he lifted my fake body form as if it was a feather, he threw him over his broad shoulder.

"Well, J, thanks again. I have the potion to make him your familiar ready, would you mind if I do the honors?" I took another spell pot from under the counter.

"By all means, green eyes!" he made a little bow easily and graciously for his size, even though he was carrying the unconscious demon. I made quickly the invocation and I felt released when the little aura I took from the demon passed to Juveuos.

"Well, it worked as it should. I will be here tomorrow at midnight to deliver my part of the deal. By the way, Rachel, you have no future as a trader, anybody would ask a small fortune for a demon familiar." He said chuckling in good mood. "Even for a worthless one like this insect." He mocked me, giving me a lecherous glance from head to toe.

"I know I'd rather stay on your good side." I said humorously.

"Clever girl!" he disappeared with the other demon still laughing.

I sighed relieved, but then my right leg didn't respond to me and I fell on my knees with a surprised gasp. Ivy crouched to hug me fiercely.

"Are you alright?" She lifted me as if I weighed nothing, hugging me protectively.

"I'm alive, honey!" I chuckled nervously. "Just in time!" I mumbled quietly feeling how all my strength just went away. "I thought I would have at least another half hour. I'm surely more tired than I thought."

"You weren't kidding?" Jenks landed on Ivy's shoulder to take a closer look of me.

"No, I need sitting down, honey." I mumbled again.

"You are insane! You are worst than a freaking lunatic fairy!" Jenks bitched taking off Ivy's shoulder to get into the church again, I was sure I would hear from him the next day at least for a couple of hours.

"Yes, I'm insane, I always turn insane when I feel cornered and you know it." I murmured, knowing he could hear me out even inside the church. Ivy put me down into a chair, her chair to the right of her mother. "But this went ok." I mumbled. "Do we have some vodka or whiskey, honey?" I asked my lover whom was hugging me, keeping me straight against her.

"Yes, but you shouldn't be drinking alcohol in this state. You rarely drink alcohol, dear." She objected.

"Alcohol sometimes wears out the effects of potions, Miss Tamwood." Isabella let her know. "At least of this kind of potion."

"I'll serve a glass for her, Ivy. You keep her from falling out the chair." Robert went into the pantry at vamp speed.

"Thanks, Dad." She nodded, she was worried. Kimberly lifted one of my hands and let it drop; I couldn't stop the falling of my limb. Robert gave Ivy the glass of vodka and Ivy made me drink softly, supporting me, and the glass carefully. I coughed a couple of times, weakly. "You're so cold." She murmured concerned.

"That's another side effect from the potion, don't worry. It's like a healthier drug because doesn't cause addiction, but the side effects of it wearing off are the same as a sudden withdrawal on drugs. If you have anything sweet, that helps too. And she will have a massive headache for a while, but wearing a pain amulet she won't feel it much." Isabella offered her expertise one more time.

"Does she need medical attention?" Rynn asked her politely.

"No. She only needs to sleep over off; she will be fine in 6 to 8 hours. Sleeping it's the recommendation in this case." Melissa answered to him.

"Yes, I'm burnt out for the day." I acknowledged clearer than before. "But the deed is done, Rynn. I'm sorry I didn't explain to you beforehand, but there was no point, J is way too dangerous and powerful. The only way Juveuos didn't know all of you were involved in this was that none of you were present. But I didn't think you would agree with that." I explained quietly.

"How did you know about him?" Melissa asked interested.

"Ah, I cannot talk about it or I will forfeit my soul. I really didn't want to call him. You saw the reaction of Z to him. He is way too powerful even for demons. He's not just a warrior; he was a general in the war. He was a ruler for demons. But that doesn't matter now. Tomorrow I will be able to free Skimmer and both of you." I sighed, my head leaning on Ivy's middle. "Tomorrow at midnight, you heard him."

"You have played your part here. Take her to bed, Ivy." Rynn decided. My mind drifted to naughty thoughts at that particular order, Rynn was rewarding me? If I had the energy I would have laughed.

"Yes." She lifted me again, and we saw David and Serena in the archway, waiting for us. My alpha male made a move to take me from Ivy's arms.

"I will take her, Ivy. Serena will help her getting to bed. You need to stay here; you are the hostess of this meeting." He said formally.

"Yes, just put her in bed and cover her to keep her warm, I will undress her in a bit." Ivy said remembering I would feel very embarrassed if someone else saw me naked. "I will be with you very soon, are you sure you are alright?" she still had her arms under me.

"Yes, this will pass with a bit of sleep, Ivy. I'll be fine tomorrow morning."

"Thanks." She nodded reluctantly to David, handling me over him, and kissed my temple. "Rest, dear heart, I will be with you in no time." She promised me_. "Are you really this bad?"_ I heard her mental question.

"_I had never tried this potion__ before, but I think the twins are right. Don't worry, and let me know what is happening in here."_ I smiled to her.

"_Be alert,__ I hope this won't to take long."_

"_Yes, thanks, babe."_

Ivy headed back to the table. Natalie chuckled shaking her head. I could see her through Ivy's eyes while David was putting me in the bed, Mom was already there. Serena took a thick blanket from the closet to cover me. My absent facial expression told Mom I was connected to my lover, I just felt it, and she shushed my pack from asking questions.

"Wits and guts, eh?" The Californian master vamp asked amused, using the words Claire had used the night before.

"Usually more guts than wits." Ivy sighed while sitting down on her place.

"_Hey!"_ I exclaimed mentally to her, I could guess her smile, but she was right. Action and not thinking was the thing I was good at.

"Now I understand what you see in her Ivy. She doesn't look like a dreadful witch, she looks almost harmless. But she is; she is capable of doing things no other witch is capable of." Natalie said softly. "She deals with demons as if she were making deals with the butcher. Taking such great risks and getting out of it without a single demon mark. Keeping a cold attitude even in front of a very powerful and angry demon was something worthy to watch. Now I understand why she does not feel fear of Master Vampires. Because after seeing that demon, it is understandable she had no respect for a lower demon or even powerful vampires. But he has an obvious interest in your witch, Ivy." Her sweet sexy voice distilled some venom at the end.

"Yes, that was the reason I didn't want him near her. I know, Rachel told me herself, but even if she didn't seem afraid, she is terrified of him, Natalie. She was really hoping not having to summon him, now she is a target for him." My lover clarified the issue without hiding her worry.

"You have a very keen eye for detecting talent, Ivy. I have to hand you that. You were the one discovering her from the beginning. You have a weakness for power and danger. You have both in her."The Californian master vampire said to Ivy as flattery.

"Well, Natalie. Despite your move against Rachel, she has turned things around. She will free Miss Claymor as you wanted, and Heather and as bonus she got your witches off the hook." Rynn decided to join the conversation.

"Now I can see why you have been protecting that little witch, and how she managed to captivate Ivy in such a profound way. You are an intelligent vampire, Rynn. You keep the witch leashed with Ivy and Ivy content with having her way. I have to hand that to you as well."

"Maybe you do not believe this, Natalie, but the truth is I really appreciate both of them. I know they really love each other, why prevent them from being happy? There's no reason at all. And I expect one huge task from Rachel. I don't want to lose her. Now, more than ever, I am convinced my expectations of her are not misplaced. You said you will be open to talking about forming a united front against Borgia. By now, she surely knows you are already aware of her involvement, she would not know if you had trusted Rachel and not rushed into trying to save your child." He pointed out.

"I had no guarantees she could or would do anything to help my child, Rynn." Natalie avoided the issue elegantly.

"Ah, that's the thing about Rachel, she always keeps her word. Once she has made a promise, she never backs out. That could be the doom of her in the end, but that is her nature, Natalie. She is so loyal to herself. I certainly have to take extra care of her from now on, preventing her from committing to lost causes, if I want her working on my project." The Master vampire took his glass of wine and took a sip of it.

"What kind of project is that, Rynn?" Natalie asked directly, she couldn't avoid it, she was too curious.

"I will tell you, risking that you could think I am a naïve, innocent vampire. I want Rachel to find a way for vampires to preserve their souls after their first death. She is madly in love with Ivy; she will go to places any other witch wouldn't dare in order to preserve Ivy's soul. She would die if she has to do it in order to save Ivy's soul. I know many have tried in the past. I just want a chance for all vampire kind to live the undead existence without the loss of the soul. I am not proposing to keep that from all vampires, Natalie. I think Rachel has a fair chance to find a way if I give her the time and the means. In fact, that was the very reason she started to research about Francesca Borgia, she wanted to see her private library of demon magic texts. That triggered this entire situation; that put her in the sight of that Master Vampire." Rynn explained to her.

"Of course, the moment Rachel gets positive results; I would share it with you first the way of helping vampires to make the passage to the undead life easier." He promised. "I need Rachel alive and working. I want her focused and having Ivy by her side is a constant reminder that she has to do the task, if she wants to preserve her, as well as their baby vamp. Yes, I am using her, and she knows it, but she is doing it for Ivy, not for me." Rynn said confident.

"Mmh, indeed, many have tried along the millennia. Seeing how she deals with higher demons, maybe she has a chance; she has proved her talent more than once in matter of few hours. But I would not hold my breath on that chance." Natalie replied pensively.

"Knowing this, you can understand the reasons I don't want Miss Claymor near Ivy, Natalie. Perhaps Miss Claymor is in love as well with Ivy, who could blame her for that? Ivy is so beautiful and captivating as only a handful of women in the world are, even you want her for yourself, Natalie. But you were the one that prevented that from happening. If I am not misinformed, you and Piscary denied both of them the chance to be together when Ivy was infatuated with your child." Rynn said. "Ivy moved on, met Rachel and she fell in love like a school girl. When Piscary noticed it, then he allowed Miss Claymor a new chance with Ivy, but it was too late." He shrugged his broad shoulders in a very human way.

"Ivy had already fallen for Rachel, and now she has her, and she is having babies. They have a family, and they do not need the dirty plays your child uses to make in order to get what she wants. On top of that, she already killed my predecessor; of course, I don't want a proven killer of undead master vampires near me. You should take her with you and protect her; I will not lift a finger against her, but you know other master vampires will not forget what she had has done and will not forgive her. If you want your line to continue, you have to demand heirs from her. Maybe having children of her own would be beneficial to her, and your line would be secured." Rynn ended his ranting reasonably and caringly.

"We will talk tomorrow, when Skimmer is out of danger for good, Rynn. She is not free yet. For now, it will be best if we retire for the night. Your witch is not in good shape. She is an impressive little witch, but she has limitations as well."

"As you wish." Rynn nodded. There were way too many ears on the premises to talk freely. They surely wouldn't have any foreign intrusions in a real meeting. My pack was there, the pixies were there. "Ivy, this has been a very enlightening evening, thank you very much for receiving us." He fixed his eyes on my lover. Well noted, I could feel Ivy's shiver in the spine, Rynn and Natalie had changed their minds about me. But they weren't doing anything until Natalie had obtained what she wanted: Skimmer freed from Borgia's influence.

"And I think we can reunite here tomorrow, for Rachel to free Skimmer, and luckily also Heather from the curse. After that, we can move into your HQ to fully talk through the alliance terms, and to find a way of expelling Borgia out of this country for good."

"Perfect, then I will see you tomorrow night at 11:30? If I understood correctly, the demon is delivering the counter curse at midnight." Rynn looked at Ivy, who nodded.

"I will have the other room ready for the reunion; I think it's best that Rachel deal alone with the demon, in here. He's violent when provoked, and we have no real idea what can trigger him."

"Then we have an agreement. Thank you, Ivy." Natalie said.

They were gone in only 5 minutes, but Rynn ordered Maurice to stay in guardian duty inside of the church. Rynn still was unsure of Natalie's next move.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm adding some characters of my own. Now we have to remember a threat I had in waiting until now. Don't hate me, I know I haven't given them a break in a little while. But they will have a little family vacation later.

Thank you to all the people still reading my rambles. Gratitude to all the ones reviewing; you keep me going, guys. Sorry for the time that has gone by between this and the last one.

I had kept changing my mind about the next thing, until I found a way to combine it with the plot I was writing already. I had to write it in pieces. My muse is in strike and I have to wait until she wants to show up.

Natasha, I want to thank you again for your time, efforts and advices as priceless as ever. I know I had made you work a lot more than necessary on this with all the changes I did. Thanks for your patience.

CHAPTER 27

An awful sensation woke me up with a gasp. My hand moved from a very warm place to the mattress in a reflex, my palm felt out the sheets under my middle. The mattress wasn't wet. My brain started to function and I knew I hadn't wet the bed since I left the diapers. Ivy moved besides me, lifting her head from the pillow next to mine.

"What is it, Rachel? Another summoning?" she asked me, her silky voice was almost a groan from having her sleep disturbed yet again. Her arm passed possessively over my waist as if she could keep me here with her. My hand moved again between us, checking the mattress once more when an alarming thought came to the front of my mind. But it was a stupid thought. Ivy would know if her waters had broken, she would be in pain and not asleep at all.

After that my mind was cleared enough to distill the feeling, the awful sensation wasn't mine or Ivy's but was coming from our little one in the nursery.

The night before came to me. I had done a stupid thing, now I was a player in the minds if two master vampires, well, maybe not a player but at the very least I was a very valuable pawn.

After they left Ivy came to our bedroom and she undressed and me putting my pajamas on. I sincerely regretted the fact I used that potion, feeling her soft hands gently undressing and dressing me was bad enough. But then I had to watch as she undressed herself and then put on the midnight blue nightgown. I liked her so much in that gown, it was the one she wore the first time we made love and she hadn't had worn it in more than a month; she said it was too tight in the belly area when she was still carrying Tammy. I thought I was going to go mad with need as I witnessed the way she undid the pixie braiding in her hair whilst wishing I could be the one undoing it. All my plans for a busy night with my vamp lover crashed and burned because of my temporary lack of any strength. Turn it! I couldn't even lift my own head from the pillow, but that didn't keep me from the lust I was feeling.

"Rachel? What is it?" her silky voice acquired a very sexy half sleep quality; once she was sure I wasn't about to disappear from her arms again, she relaxed against my body, her head falling next to mine. I was so lucky to have her. I could feel the skin of her arm against the skin of my waist, the top of my pajama had crawled up until my last ribs. I caressed her wrist up to the elbow and back in a calming way, a reassuring one.

Something had to be very wrong with me; because half the time, even with the presence of master vampires and demons, I just wanted her. Last night, I felt like Ivy was punishing me just by being herself. Every move from her body was a display of grace and an invitation for dirty and lustful thoughts. She was so sexy in every way!

The only thing that made it bearable was I knew she was as frustrated as me. She was looking forward to a quiet night of lovemaking and warm kisses until I fell to the floor unable to lift a finger for myself. After she combed her hair she came to bed with me and I fell asleep in her arms.

Tammy had woken up hungry twice but Ivy went to the nursery to feed her. My baby witch understood my mental messages that I was temporarily unable to give her the bottle. She could be a very mature baby. She didn't cry. She fell back asleep with the lullabies Ivy sang quietly to her both times.

"I think Tammy has a very wet and soiled diaper, honey. She is feeling cold and hungry and angry with the dirty diaper. I'll go." I said almost in a mumble. The differences between us were so terribly great that I couldn't help thinking again that I was the luckiest witch in the world. If Ivy was sexy all tousled and half asleep, I was most unattractive in the same circumstances.

"No, you're adorable, with all that hair all over the place and your mumbles are sexy too." Ivy said, reminding me about our mental bond. "Yes, I wanted too." Her half groaned giggle sped up my heart. She moved and the night table lamp went on. I could see her there, still with an arm over me. I kissed her shoulder to replace the thin lacey strap that had fallen to her arm. "Are you feeling well?" she asked me.

I sighed, filling my lungs with her scent. My hand stroked her hip. I kissed her shoulder again, and I levered my weight with my free hand. I got out of the bed in a swift move if I stayed where I was even I moment longer then I wasn't sure I would have the self-control to get out of bed.

"Yes, actually, I think the hunger is not only Tammy's but mine as well, babe." I cleared my throat "I'll be back in a moment with Tammy."

"Good." Ivy looked at me until I left the bedroom.

The nursery was very close – being my old room, and I only had to cross the corridor. Mom and Cali were deeply asleep in the bed-couch. Tammy was very restless, I could feel she was about to burst into shouts showing her unhappiness. She was very cold and the thing she didn't like at all secondary only to demons and undead assassins was a soiled diaper. _"I'm her, little one, calm down"_ I let her know without words, she almost squeaked excited by my presence. My baby was all uncovered; she had managed to toss her blankets away.

I took her to the changing table near the cradle. She was very cooperative with me during the change of diaper and the cleaning up. I made sure of sending to her waves of reassuring love the whole time. Once the uncomfortable feeling was out of her mind, her hunger was the next thing she focused on. Tammy's thoughts went directly to Ivy and her milk. I smiled wrapping her in a blanket.

Ivy had taken the time to comb her hair and brush her teeth. She was already sitting comfortably on our bed when I came in with our baby. Tammy was already kicking and waving the arm she could get out of the blanket, I wasn't as good as Ivy at swaddling. Ivy had practice with Erica I guess. Or maybe it was that she always made everything so well. Perhaps that was it, a trade of her personality and persona, she was so freaking perfect.

"Hello, sweetheart, are you hungry?" Ivy's voice was warm and loving as she greeted our first born.

"Da…ba..mmnmj." the baby talk was demanding but hopeful and playful. I put her in Ivy's arms. However, the tiny hands grabbed mine before I could get away. I sent her an image of the bottle. She reluctantly let me go with an urgent pleading I only could interpret as _"Alright, mommy, but get your witchy ass here with my bottle quickly"_

"You're a little tyrant, my love." I giggled and kissed the ebony curly hair. "I'll be back as soon the bottle is ready, babe." I said to Ivy. It took me only 10 minutes to come back with the hot bottle. I took another 5 minutes for combing my hair and using the toothbrush. I sat besides Ivy, moving the pillows to use the bed board to support my back comfortably, as my lover was. My baby eagerly passed to my arms for having her chamomile tea bottle. She had missed me last night; her eagerness was her way to show it.

"What do you like to have for breakfast, honey?" I asked Ivy. It was only a quarter past nine, an ungodly hour in the morning for any respectable Inderlander, but my own stomach was beginning to protest the lack of dinner.

"Are you sure you're fine?" my sweet vamp was still a bit worried about me

"I'm tired and that won't go away for several days, babe. The same with you, you should be all day long in bed recovering and letting the virus work, you are tired too, aren't you?" I looked at her intensely.

"A bit." She conceded the point without a fight. She wasn't afraid anymore of seeming weak in front of me. We're a team. Unfortunately, we were both at the same place right now. We were both tired and aching. Neither of us wanted anything more than to get some rest without thinking about power plays from the vampires, the weres, the witches and the demons. "I feel a bit strange, Rache. It's like I'm still me, but at the same time, my hearing is improving, the same with all my senses, I feel weak, but stronger…I don't know how to explain it."

"Maybe it has something to do with your fangs?" I asked her intently looking at her mouth. First, I thought it was my imagination, but no, it wasn't. Ivy passed the tip of her tongue over the tips of her fangs. I saw her beautiful brown eyes startled for a split second, the pupils growing and shrinking.

"My fangs are longer!" she murmured, I could feel the tension building up inside her instantly.

"Yes, they were normal yesterday, but I could swear they're a couple of millimeters longer now." I said with a smile however, they weren't close to the undead version of fangs. Claire had warned us that the virus would affect Ivy and our baby vampire. The elemental magic had messed up the virus stored in my marks. "They look very sexy, babe." I added in a hoarse murmur and she smiled at me, the worry washing away from her, her shoulders losing some tension.

"It will take me a while to learn not graze you with them every time I'm nibbling your skin, or kissing you." She warned me passing her free arm behind my back to get closer.

"Practice makes perfect." I giggled. Ivy kissed me; I kissed her back probing the fangs with my tongue. We both moaned. Ivy broke the kiss.

"Don't tease right now, dear!" she asked.

"I want to be with you. I can't wait to have you again, Tamwood."

"You were the one taking that freaking potion last night, Morgan…" she retorted playfully.

"I hope tonight we can make love. I miss you." I sighed

"We had sex the day before yesterday, Rachel." She reminded me.

"It feels like an eternity." I sighed again. "Hey, you…" I turned to Tammy when she finished the bottle and giggled. "…tonight you will behave, ok?" I warned her. "Mom is going to help you burping now, I'm hungry too. I'm going to make breakfast… What do you want to eat, honey?" I asked again.

"Anything you want to cook, dear. I'll try to wear Tammy off and then I will try to make her sleep. As soon she gets sleepy I will join you." Ivy decided.

"Fine, see you soon." I brushed her lips with mine and I kissed Tammy's forehead. "And you too, my little one."

I took a glance of the clock, it was almost 10 in the morning. But despite my persistent tiredness, I wasn't sleepy anymore. I had slept almost 12 hours, not in a row, because Tammy needed to feed twice since I fell asleep the first time. But I had slept a lot compared to the previous days.

I decided make a good breakfast for everybody. Some muffins, some croissants, the kitchen was a bit cold, that much baking would warm it up and make the pixies happy when they came in.

Ivy took her time, Tammy was restless and in the mood for playing some more. Ivy loved to cuddle her. Even though I was physically in the kitchen, a part of my mind was with them, playing and fooling around with both and even our little unborn vamp. The kitchen already smelt good with the muffins in the oven. I suddenly felt alert, tension racing through my body – I could feel someone tapping my line. That someone cast a spell, but, it wasn't a hostile spell. My reaper senses focused, seeking out the source.

I could feel them, two witches slowly approaching; I could hear nothing, even when they were walking towards the back of the church by the aisle. It had to be a dampening spell to conceal them. I was at the stove making pancakes for Ivy and myself, I let my instincts rule my actions. I stayed cooking, wondering if the vampires guarding the church had seen them.

I felt the vampires moving from the cemetery, they must have jumped over the short wall. They were doing their job. I could feel the witches, one wasn't happy. The other was moving eagerly, fear and excitement mixed in the feelings. The unhappy one was a bit angry and a bit resigned, expecting something bad to happen.

I took a deep breath. The burnt amber had vanished since last night, but the redwood scent remained, now mixed with the aromas of coffee, muffins and pancakes. I could feel the witches almost arriving to the kitchen's door. They hesitated. I couldn't hear them, but I could feel their intentions. One was afraid and excited, the second witch felt confident, but cautious and still annoyed by the eager one. I could felt their eyes upon me. I didn't move from the stove, finishing the pancakes and starting some scrambled eggs. I felt the vampires moving towards the kitchen without a noise. One of the witches was alert and I could feel her uneasiness, the other one was oblivious to that fact, focused on me. They already were peaking inside through a window.

Ivy came by my back. One of her arms held me by the waist in a loose hug. Her hand removed my hair and her mouth was kissing my neck before I could warn her. I let my body to lean on hers. I could feel the surprise of the witches, now one of them was almost openly peaking at the window. My vamp continued the kissing and nibbling over one of my hidden scars. _Oh turn take it that felt good why did the stupid witches have to choose now to turn up? Maybe they would go away?_

"Tammy is asleep; in fact everybody is asleep, dear." My lover murmured nibbling my ear lobe. I got lost in the sensations that Ivy's talented mouth was making me feel. Ivy always could make me forget the rest of the world. I didn't warn her about the witches and I wasn't sure how much further things would have gone if Ivy hadn't have spotted the reflection in the saucepans of blonde head with outraged eyes the size of dinner plates, making an effort to see more through the window. Ivy turned quickly, too quickly for the spies to hide.

What a shame, a couple of hours alone with Ivy in our bedroom were the very thing I coveted the most at the moment. However the magic was lost the moment Ivy noted the witches. I sighed disappointed then I tensed. Ivy was very pissed off. I took out the last pancake and put the fire off on the eggs pan.

My lover was already opening the door. The witches had no time to react, Ivy grabbed the closest one to the door and took her inside by the neck, the witch was dangling in thin air. One second later Ivy had already stamped her against the wall inside.

"No, Ivy!" I ran to her side. I hung myself from her arm, trying to loosen the iron grip of her hand around the witch's throat. I spared a quick glance to the other witch, much taller than the one Ivy had caught so easily. "They are with the Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards!" I recognized the Mobius strip glistening over the black matching coats, adorning the left part of the chest, at heart height. "Please, honey, let her go." Ivy turned her black eyes towards me and snarled.

I realised that Ivy did recognize the Mobius strip, it was the very reason she attacked. She was a first time mother and she still was expecting another baby, her territorial sense was exacerbated at the moment. The nesting allowed only family and close proven friends. It had been too much for her dealing with Master vampires, weres and demons. Witches that were my sworn enemies were out of the question.

I had had to know only witches from the Coven would dare to be near me, I was shunned by them. It was December and the snow had been falling for some hours, I felt very grateful, for the snow covering the graves in the cemetery.

Black witches and cemeteries were a very obvious relationship. Although our cemetery was pretty normal, Pierce's grave was an anomaly I didn't want any other witch wondering about the abnormalities on his final resting place. Besides, I had drawn several circles in the cemetery. The snow was my accomplice hiding those facts. The smell in my house gave away nothing about black curses. I was covered.

Ivy snarled one more time, baring her fangs. The witch in her grip tried to kick with no success. I knew the dampening spell was her doing because the spell vanished at her lack of focus, she lost connection with the line due to the surprise and fear, she was breathless as well, but if she could tap the line again, she herself could harm Ivy.

"What the hell do you want here?" Ivy asked in a growl.

"Don't you dare to attack her, she's pregnant!" I warned the taller witch, whom was hesitant about doing something, because I was trying to stop my lover. And something else, I could recognize something like satisfaction amongst her feelings. She felt satisfaction of seeing the younger one in such a painful and difficult situation. It was as if she was thinking the blonde deserved it.

The taller witch had a very mean and cruel side. However, the annoyance came back, with uneasiness. She was the trainer, the experienced one, she couldn't afford her trainee was badly injured or killed. There would be consequences even for her. She tapped the line, I also did so, even trying to stop my lover. The presence of the living vampire bodyguards entering the kitchen stopped her, in a new assessment of the situation.

"Ivy, you're pregnant, let her go before I have to go into a magical showdown with her partner. I'll have to fight a fellow witch, is that what you want, Ivy?" My partner in life grabbed me by the shoulder, moving me away from them in the blink of an eye. I got thrown against the opposite wall as well, but not as harshly as I could have been. Ivy had put her body between me and the intruders.

"What is it, Miss Tamwood?" Mike, a tall guy with blonde short curls asked. He and another corpulent bodyguard were already inside the kitchen, their stances menacing.

"Please, guys, do not attack!" I asked still tensed, trapped by Ivy against the opposite wall. They moved until getting almost in front of Ivy and me; giving space to the older witch and the one coughing on the floor.

The taller witch decided to change the strategy. She was still tapping the line. But she went to the fallen blonde to get her on her feet. The vampires let her make the move, because she didn't show any animosity towards anyone.

"We are with the Coven for Moral and Ethical Standards; we have a delivery for Miss Rachel Morgan:" The taller witch said as firmly as she could whilst facing two male vampires and she knew Ivy was out of herself.

"You have to know better than to get in the way of a horny vampire, not to mention the fact that they get very territorial when they are nesting." I complained. I was hugging Ivy, trying to stop her from attacking them again. "Please, Ivy, calm down." I asked in a whisper, one that wasn't meant to be heard by the witches.

"We aren't here to attack anyone, Miss Morgan. My partner is still in training, I warned her that the best way was going in the front door and ring the bell. But she is young, eager and very inexperienced. The best way to learn is by making mistakes." Her voice was calming. Her hands were up in a harmless way. She was almost as tall as Ivy, although she seemed skinny under the coat. Her brown reddish hair was trapped in a pony tail. There was a cold calculating look in her grey eyes, despite the peaceful tone of her voice. "I'm Phyllis McEnroe. I will draw an envelope from my inner pocket." She announced. But Ivy growled and I had to put myself in front of her.

"Bad idea, I see." Phyllis face seemed really concerned, although a glint in her eyes, and the annoyance in her feelings warned me clearly about her. Her partner was barely standing, leaning on the wall, looking at us with the big steel blue eyes full of malice and contempt. She wasn't tall, maybe she could reach the 5'3", blond short hair a bit spiky on the top. She was the one making the dampening spell to conceal their moves. I could feel scorn and almost hatred, and anger from the younger one. "This is Jillian Rothberg."

Jillian Rothberg certainly didn't like Ivy or me. I could feel something else, she was homophobic, she was feeling dirty simply because Ivy had touched her. I didn't like her either. She was the first person that I had encountered with that kind of scorn for me and Ivy. Jillian Rothberg was the kind of person that would reject us and judge us because the simple fact we loved a person of the same sex. I kicked myself mentally, I was very afraid of the judgment and the rejection of people once, I lost precious time of being with Ivy only because I was afraid of that rejection. How I could give a damn about a strangers' rejection?

I certainly was very stupid, because her scorn didn't hurt me in the least. Her stupidity in trying to spy on us however and the way she had upset my lover; that I found very rude and annoying. She was even more stupid that I had been when I started at the FIB. Her lack of redwood smell said she purchased her amulets.

On the other hand, the taller witch had a very strong scent of redwood on her. I could smell dozens of charms and amulets on her, well concealed. She was a woman t hat believe in being prepared for anything. On top, I could swear she didn't rely on her magic skills only. Phyllis McEnroe was a very dangerous witch.

"I know this is a terrible time, perhaps we should come back later?" the older one decided. She obviously had encountered vampires before. If she was a hunter of Black witches that was logic. Some black witches worked for vampires; vampires guarded her territory jealously.

"Please. Come at two..." I said still facing Ivy. My vampire was hugging me fiercely, doing her best to get a grip on her temper and her instincts.

"That is not necessary." Ivy cut me when I was trying to make them leave. "Why did you use a charm to conceal your noise?" Ivy asked, still hissing a bit.

"I warned Jillian it was a bad idea, Miss Tamwood." Phyllis said in a fake concerned voice. "Vampire ears are too good, but their noses are just as good and on top she let you see her."

"Rookies!" Ivy snarled again, letting me move her to the wall again. She took a deep breath with her head buried in my neck. My scent was a known and calming one for her. Jillian sniffed her nose at that, I didn't care.

"Indeed!" Phyllis relaxed a bit, now Ivy was reasoning even if she still was pissed. She knew the danger was diminishing. "I'm very sorry, but she has to learn the hard way, it's the only way she won't commit the same mistakes when she is on her own."

"I could have killed her. I don't like spies, spies usually mean enemies and she was trespassing with a concealing charm. By what I knew you were the stupidest robbers or the clumsiest spies ever. Everybody in Cinci knows that nobody messes with the Tamwoods." Ivy took a deep breath, still working on her control. At a sign of her hand the vampire bodyguards Rynn had left with us, went back to their posts.

"What is that about?" the scorned voice of Jillian was a bit high pitched, I didn't like it at all.

Even when she was trying to be rude and though, Jillian sounded more afraid and childish than anything else. Was I that stupid and bad pretending when I was a rookie? I surely hoped not.

"Vampire bodyguards, here we have nothing less than the last living heir of the Tamwood line, one of the oldest in the whole world, Jill. There's a war between vampires all over the country at the moment. It is obvious an heir such as Ivy would have protection." Phyllis said confidently. "She is considered the crown jewel of vampire society in Cincinnati." Surely Phyllis was a great liar. She was acting all cool and sympathetic, but in the bottom she didn't give a damn. She was a pro that made her investigative homework before going in a mission. Maybe she was a bit like Ivy regarding plans.

Jillian's eyes raked Ivy once more with disdain. As if she couldn't believe she had been caught by her. On the other hand, Phyllis just was doing a job. For her killing me and serve me with the envelope she was carrying in the pocket wasn't more than a job.

"Public domain chit chat." Ivy mumbled, diminishing the info. She wasn't buying either the fake sympathy from the taller witch.

"We are here to deliver by hand a summoning to Rachel Morgan." Phyllis said.

"Summoning? What the hell does that mean?" Ivy was still pissed; she didn't swear on a regular basis, in fact, I was pretty sure I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I had heard her swear.

Phyllis took an official looking envelope from her inner pocket, she offered it to me without words.

"It's cursed, don't touch it!" A voice warned me in a high pitch shout. Jenks had been hiding on top of the fridge with Jhan; they had darted into the kitchen at the sound of Ivy's growled claims. I saw the surprise even in Phyllis, her trained eyes had missed them, she was too busy assessing the vampire danger. That bothered her, but her face didn't show it.

"No, Jenks. It's not cursed; it's charmed, for my eyes only. It would burn if anyone else tried to open it." I explained to him as I approached and took it from Phyllis.

"How do you know?" the younger witch frowned.

"I do my homework. The Coven of Moral and Ethical Standards cannot take the risk of getting the wrong witch, and they don't use black magic, a lethal curse is out of the question. I was expecting something like this for a while now." I said as I opened it.

Both witches were studying my reactions. My face showed nothing, but Ivy reading it over my shoulder, snarled again. One of the best features of the reaper inside me was precisely this numbness which kept me from showing any emotion in dangerous situations.

"An audience in order to clarify the alleged attacks you have undergone?" Ivy wasn't happy. "What a fancy way to call a trial!" she glared at the witches, her eyes held the thinner rim of brown on the irises.

"Maybe, I was cornered, Ivy. I had no other choice at the time. But if I want someone to hear my side of the story, then this is my only chance. I'm not a black witch. This is the only chance for me to get some justice and to lift the shunning. I have to go." I sighed.

"There's no witch that gets out of the Coven headquarters to any place other than Alcatraz, Rache." Jenks said hovering in front of us.

"That is only malicious rumors, Jenks. If I'm not guilty, then I'm safe."

"Rachel, it's in public records that you summoned a demon." Jenks reminded me with a frown.

"Yes it is and the purpose of it is recorded as well. I have to believe these people have some sense of justice, Jenks. Anyway, I cannot refuse. I have to attend." My eyes met the eyes of Phyllis McEnroe.

"Rachel!" Ivy took me by the chin to force me to look at her. I sighed. Ivy was in reality – although not in the eyes of law - my wife. I knew I had to talk to her. Decisions about my life affected her and our children just as much. I owed her respect and consideration; furthermore, I had to think of her and our children first. "Maybe Rynn could pull some strings." she offered.

"Ivy, I cannot involve a Master Vampire in this. The Coven's business is private witch business. As private as vampire matters are to you. I know we have to talk. I won't do anything you don't agree with in this matter, I promise." I hugged her again. She was still too tense. I turned to look at Phyllis and her trainee "May I give you an answer tomorrow?"

David came into the kitchen in jeans and a T-shirt.

"Good morning. What's happening here? By the way that smells great, Rache!" he went directly to the stove to see what I had cooked and served himself a mug of coffee. As if anything was happening. David surely knew to be clueless. Only he was being as calculating as Phyllis. He smelt strongly of were. Fortunately I had removed the fake tattoos from my pack members; it was one of the little potions I had worked the previous afternoon. Now he was only wearing the black dandelion on his neck.

"And you are?" Phyllis asked politely, she had been surprised. My pack had only moved recently, few days ago into the church. So maybe her file wasn't as updated as she ad liked. Two surprises in only matter of minutes. She hated herself for being so unprepared. I could almost read it only in the feelings behind the polite and cool façade.

"David Hue at your service, Madam." He said charmingly for a male that hadn't shaved yet today. He had those dirty looks that made him so adorable. He was so much cooler than Phyllis faking that. Maybe because for me, David was adorable.

"He's a Were." Jillian Rothberg flute like voice was filled with very bad dissimulated scorn.

"He is an alpha Were, my alpha male." I clarified. "The best friend anyone could ask for." I smiled to him.

"Ditto, Rache." He blushed a bit.

"He's the man!" Jenks chanted. He flew pouring purple pixie dust to stand on David's shoulder, even on his tiny features concern could be very noticeable and he was definitely concerned.

The disgust on the younger witch grew exponentially. Obviously she was a purist, she didn't believe in the cooperation and close coexistence with the other races. She was used to see them, maybe treat them with a polite distance, but she had no friends of a different race.

Phyllis on the other hand laughed, amused for the lack of professionalism the trainee showed every second with every expression on her face and every word out of her mouth, her report on Rothberg would be ultimately unfavorable.

"I had heard of that. A witch being the alpha bitch of a were pack." She shook the head, taking a very intent look on me. "You are very interesting, Rachel Morgan. You have a vampire lover, a were alpha male, and pixies around."

"I have human friends as well." I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't mention the elves they were meant to be extinct after all, besides Ceri was my only real friend amongst elves. Trent still wanted me dead and Jonathan even more than his master.

"Yes, the file says you frequently work with the FIB, Captain Eden hires your firm on a regular basis to chase Inderlander criminals." Phyllis almost recited from memory

"He's a good friend." Ivy nodded. She was feeling the mood of both witches; using her overdeveloped vampire senses. I was happy she had calmed down enough to be able to communicate whole sentences.

"You don't seem like a black witch, Rachel. The kitchen smells strongly of redwood, but that's consistent with an earth witch. However, most black witches are successfully concealing the fact they are black witches. Do you have a basement?" Phyllis tried the empathy card on me. However, I already knew she would kill me without the slightest remorse. If she felt satisfaction looking at her trainee being almost killed by Ivy; I only could imagine the bliss it would be for her to kill a black witch.

"I'm afraid not. I work here. I use a stove for magic, the other for cooking food. My store of charms and potions is right there if you want to take a look. Standard issue charms for runners: sleepy charms, pain amulets, complexion amulets." I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn't a thing to hide. (Nothing at all apart from my many extracurricular activities: summoning demons, and being an apprentice to a demon for the past two years. Ah, I almost forgot it: now being a reaper too.)

"Of course, they're homemade." Phyllis laughed in good spirits. I sincerely almost couldn't believe she was as good as master vampires pretending to like something. Her fishing technique was remarkable. She pretended to be your friend, and when she found anything pointing to black witch then she stroke

"Yes, I rather make my own work tools. I cannot afford for some charm to fail me in a critic moment if I want to be alive and well." I nodded. I used to purchase my amulets all the time when I was in the IS. But now I couldn't even think of not making them by myself. The death sentence of quitting the IS had made me a better witch and a better runner. Then I was a rookie and as immature as Jillian. It seemed like an eternity instead of only few years. Phyllis on the other hand seemed to be a very fair and reliable witch. She was observing us, trying to detect the slightest hint I was a black witch. So far she hadn't detected anything, but that only made me an even more dangerous black witch to her eyes, a bigger danger to society.

"That's a good policy. I always do my own tools as well. That explains your smell." Phyllis nodded, she wasn't a beauty, but her features were pleasant, her nose was a bit big and the mouth a bit small. But she had beautiful hair.

"Do you need a written answer or is a verbal one enough?" I asked.

"A written one is considered a legal contract with the coven. And it would show good faith on your part if that's what you want." Phyllis informed me.

"Meaning they are going to hunt you down if you don't go to that meeting." Ivy said.

"I know, honey." I hugged her waist with one arm. "We will talk and after that we both decided the best path to follow on this matter; then we will give an answer. Is that ok?"

Ivy sighed, she was still unconvinced of the good will of the witches of the Coven, she didn't want to lose me.

At this Phyllis McEnroe felt contempt. Now for her I was a shadow. Ivy was the one calling the shots. I was a stupid black witch that made the mistake to become a vampire's shadow.

"Tomorrow you will have your answer, Miss McEnroe." I faced her.

"What time is good for you?" She hid her feelings as the pro killer she was.

"Two in the afternoon, please."

"And this time please use the doorbell." Ivy pointed with a frown.

The witches followed Jenks to the front door. I didn't feel very hungry now. This was an expected but very badly timed thing to happen. Tonight Juveuos was coming and the Master vampires. I surely hoped the witches weren't spying on us. Anyways, I could protect the church against foreign ears; it wasn't a strange measure when two Master vampires were meeting.

I could feel the little things Phyllis had left here and there. She had been moving a bit, being curious, checking out the kitchen most harmlessly. She was a very skilled witch no doubt. I took a pair of pliers, one of my smaller spell pots which I filled with salt water. Switching to my reaper enhanced second sight. Without my second sight that made them glow as beacons I hadn't been able to find everyone. The amulets she left were very little and inconspicuous. She had left tiny things, as small as short pieces of thread and splinters of redwood.

"What are you doing, Rache?" Jenks nodded as soon he took a closer look, I follow the path the witches had walked inside the church. Phyllis had managed to plant a total of 10 spying charms in my house. Two of them almost at the door, while Ivy was almost killing the partner, she was a cold blooded bitch. In the outside I found 3 more.

When I returned to our kitchen, knowing I had warned Phyllis I wasn't a rookie by neutralizing every single one of her handy work. I was feeling very satisfied by make her angry. Ivy was already eating with David at the table. I went to fill a mug of coffee, outside was freezing.

My alpha male and my lover looked at me. I knew they had been talking quietly. I sat aside Ivy, she passed an arm behind my back, I kissed her warm cheek.

"This is not good, Rachel. Jenks is right. The tales of the coven are all horror ones. If you go there, then you will be condemned to Alcatraz for the rest of your natural life." David said quietly. "Please, eat something. You haven't had any food in almost a whole day." He went to the stove and served me a plate of scrambled whites. He sat down in front of us. "You cannot answer that summoning only like that." He said seriously."You need some kind of protection." Ivy nodded.

"I cannot raise Tammy properly either if I remain shunned, David. I cannot even register her as my daughter, being a witch they could try to take her away from me. And if they don't, then my daughter will be an outcast as me. Any witch that associates with me risks being shunned even if she is my daughter. I cannot condemn my child to that knowingly." I said almost without a volume. Ivy hugged me possessively

"I'm sure that Rynn can pull some strings, dear heart."

"If Rynn intrudes, Ivy, then maybe the big guys could decide to extend me some mercy at impossible conditions, like never use magic again. And even so, the radical members will attack me from behind when I'm not ready. I will unofficially be the black sheep that ran away from the herd, and most witches working for vampires are black witches anyway. Bringing Rynn into this could be even worse than it already is." I murmured. Ivy tightened her arm on my waist.

"Yes, Rachel is right on that one. Every race has their own ways of dealing with transgressors. None of them appreciates it when someone tries to interfere. Witches aren't as infamous as vampires and weres because they have ways of killing people that don't involve carnage. If they want to, they can kill Rachel and make it look like an accident or a disease. Or worst, they can erase her from everyone's memory." David agreed with me. "Witches are worse than vampires or Weres if you think about it. Crueler, if they lock her up in Alcatraz and then erase her from the collective memory…" He shook his head concerned.

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of Rachel. If I let you go in there…" Ivy shook her head. The doorbell rang, and Jenks darted out the kitchen swearing in Tink's name, cursing whoever was at the door_. "I can't lose you, Rachel… I just can't." _ Only I could hear that one, my heart clenched. Ivy was really distressed. I couldn't promise that it wouldn't happen. However, I knew very well I couldn't dismiss an audience and not expect a horrible reprisal from the Coven.

To our surprise Claire came in to the kitchen with Jenks. Ivy looked as surprised as me and I guessed the worry about the coven had meant she wasn't paying attention otherwise she would have heard Claire coming into the house.

"It seems to be a very bad moment." She commented as soon she saw us. All of us were in silence, heads down, I guessed we looked how we felt.

"It is, Claire. The Coven for Moral and Ethical Standards has summoned Rachel into a… they called it audience. But it's going to be a trial. That is the result of that overexposure in the net. They had to act openly." Ivy informed her.

Claire nodded, checking the stove already. She took the muffins out of the oven. I had forgotten about them. Fortunately they weren't ruined.

"But that's a good thing, Ivy. It is a public matter. There is no way they want more bad publicity. I know that you are afraid, sweetie. I would be too. But if Rachel doesn't go, then you will lose her for good. They are going to hunt her down in a non suspicious way. No delicacies, no audiences. She is going to be a target to kill. If you think a death sentence from the IS is hard, it's only because you never had heard of Coven assassins." Her voice was sympathetic but firm.

"I thought the Coven was against lethal magic." Ivy frowned.

"Oh, honey." Claire laughed. "All magic is lethal. You put a harmless sleepy charm combined with a paralyzing one and you have a heart stopping for good. You put a blinding charm in a car, then you chase that car and activate it on a difficult road, you have a very probable death after the collision or the crash. There's a lot of ways of killing with non lethal charms and conjures. That's why most black witches don't live a long life." Claire said. "Rachel can make a point during that audience. If they sent her to Alcatraz, there's ways of getting her out of there." She winked at me. "But not going is a certain death sentence."

"But if Rynn…" Ivy closed her mouth when Claire raised her hand.

"If a Master vampire intercedes for her, then they are going to assume automatically that she is a black witch. Most white witches never get close to a vampire, not an undead one. You have your fame as a race, sweetie." She giggled. "I promise, I won't let Rachel be a prisoner for even 24 hours. If they condemn her, then I will get her out. After that, she will probably have to change her identity. But she will be with you and your kids. But get this very clear: She has to go to that trial."

"But…" Ivy wasn't convinced yet. However, she knew Claire was a reaper. The old cook wasn't a regular witch. She had lived a lot of dangerous situations in her time. She wouldn't offer a thing she couldn't deliver. My lover sighed, reluctantly conceding the point. I knew she wasn't a hundred percent sure; she could have second thoughts but for now she was silently agreeing with the idea of the audience.

"Not going would only endanger everybody around her. You, the babies, Alice, her pack, you all will become targets, because in order to get her they will hurt every person she loves. That's the way they work, Ivy." The old cook said putting a basket with very hot muffins on the table. That was the thing convincing my lover. Our babies' safety had to be our number one priority. Ivy tightened her arm around my waist. I let her hide her face in my neck. My scent was for her the same hers was for me; my scent was home, safety and peace for her.

"They want a written answer." I commented to no one in particular.

"Do it, as a demonstration of good will." Claire nodded. "I will help you to write it. In a way you are compromising to be there and telling your side of the story."

"Summoning a demon is not going to be forgiven, even if it was for a good cause." Jenks said ominously.

"No. It's not going to be overlooked." Claire nodded. "And most likely, you will be condemned to Alcatraz. They defend the idea white magic is good, even if it's used in despicable ways. And all things regarding and concerning demons are bad, even if the demon is used to do a good thing. You risked your soul to bring a murderer to justice, using a demon as tool. Thanks to you the murderers of several witches were solved and pinned to the one ordering them. That's a good thing. But the means are the ones they value, not the ends." Claire frowned. "That's one of the reasons the worlds are a mess. Elves have done tons of bad things. However they considered themselves better than the demons. They kill, they take whatever they need with or without the approval of the real owners, they mess with nature, even so, they think they are better than demons." Claire sighed tiredly, shaking her head slightly in a sad way.

Ivy wasn't very convinced about me going to the audience. It was scheduled for the 24 of December. It was only a couple of days after the solstice and exactly at Christmas Eve. Ivy and her family celebrated Christmas, I knew she had all sort of plans for Tammy's first Christmas. Her and Tammy waiting to see if I would be locked up wasn't one of them. Claire helped me to compose a brief note in which I agreed to show up at the audience at the allotted time and place, I would tell my side of the story. And nothing more, no compromises, no hints of accepting any sentence from them.

With the letter done I tried to put the witches out of my mind both Ivy and I needed some more rest. Tonight the master vamps were coming and so was Juveuos. If Juveuos gave me the counter curse, then I was going to be very busy cleaning Rynn's camarilla from moles. I was going to be a very busy witch the next days.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm adding some characters of my own. Now we have to cool down and have a little quiet peaceful time, solstice is upon our little family.

Thank you to all the people still reading my rambles. Gratitude to all the ones reviewing; you keep me going, guys.

Natasha, I want to thank you again for your time, effort and advice it is priceless. I know this one was plagued with errors and you lost precious time from your Holidays to help me. I hope I can do the same for you soon.

CHAPTER 28

Rynn and Natalie were in the room we used to receive undead clients. Even though it wasn't often we had undead clients, Ivy had insisted on having a proper room to receive them; it was not big, but it had chairs and a couch. Rynn had sent another matching couch and chairs especially for this meeting, to allow the room to accommodate the Californian guests. Ivy was in there now playing host to the two master vamps while I stayed in the kitchen waiting for Juveuos.

Skimmer was wearing an expensive new white dress. Natalie was carrying her personally in the way in. The petit blonde was still asleep. The twin witches were in the room with them but keeping an eye on me, using their second sight. As the previous days, the bodyguards were wearing leather clothes; the witches, designer dresses and Natalie looked stunning in the business suit and the right accessories.

Rynn wasn't too happy, the bodyguards had reported the visit from the Coven to him and he had questioned Ivy about it as soon as he arrived, about 20 minutes before Natalie. Of course, Ivy had to tell him almost everything. He agreed he couldn't intrude on Coven's business due to the risk of the very unpredictable consequences. And the vampires were at war, he couldn't afford to do anything that could endanger his camarilla. He knew the risks as well as us but now he had Ivy and the next Tamwood heir, as well as Tammy. My baby witch was going to be maybe the most powerful witch in his eyes. Tammy could fill my role in a near future. Waiting for 20 or 30 years was nothing for an undead vampire. I was a pawn he coveted; however, I was nothing compared to the prize they represented, he had to put vampire matters first. Tomorrow I had to deliver my answer to the Coven. Tonight, tonight was for delivering the promised counter curse. Midnight was the agreed time, and the clock was just about to reach the hour.

The ravishing demon arrived exactly at midnight; he just appeared as if he was in his own place. That thought sent an uncomfortable shiver down my spine. All the confidence he had was in a certain way creepy, but in the other hand, appealing, as Ivy said. He was attractive in his rough manly way and he was very interested in my daughters, both of them. That wasn't the most comforting thought either. He was way too powerful and he had made clear he planned on romancing my descendants. Maybe it was too soon to worry about it. Tammy wasn't a week old, Morgan hadn't born yet. We could be safe for 15 years… at least… I hoped.

"Hello, Rachel." He greeted.

"Hi, Juveuos." I nodded getting up of my chair and going to the coffee maker. "Is everything going fine?" I asked him, but my eyes warned him about the spying ears around.

"I can't complain of much, green eyes. As I promised, I bring you the counter curse, but remember: only demon blood can activate it. So, for teaching you how it works, maybe I should take you with me to my house." He teased almost playfully.

"And my ears are as pointy as elven ears, J." I looked at him and found myself getting in a good mood.

"You certainly can't be proposing that I reveal demon secrets in a place plagued with vamp, pixie and were ears; not to count some other witches, Rachel." He warned me.

"You could put a dampening spell around us. I know yours are much more effective than witchy ones." I said. "I cannot go to ever after, J. Nothing personal, but my baby is very possessive and she will be heartbroken the moment she doesn't feel me around. Tammy has already suffered too much for a baby not even a week old." I said worried.

"You're a regular mom, eh?" the demon laughed. "Alright, I will use a dampening spell free of charge, I know you gave me a bargain with that demon insect you sold me." He made a complicated movement with his hands. Then an invisible bubble form was covering almost the entire kitchen cutting us off from all the noises of the rest of the church, now we were surrounded in silence. The dampening spell was simple it formed a bubble much like a normal circle; the strength of the spell determined how much sound could penetrate the bubble. With J's strength nothing but the loudest scream would be able to travel in or out of the bubble.

"I have been isolated for too long, green eyes. Things are not the way they're supposed to be. You were right, there is a conspiracy going on." He said whilst I poured two big mugs of coffee. I looked at him a bit baffled by the comment. "We are friends, Rachel, and friends rely on each other to hear their troubles." He was sincere, I could feel it, and I didn't question my empathy. It was best to try and be friends with J even if we were natural enemies.

"Well, when you put it like that. You didn't know something fishy was going on?" I put the mug in front of him. He had sat in Ivy's chair, the throne like air of the chair suiting him.

"Thanks, something fishy is always going on! That is the reason I stopped spying on them. Those stupid power plays they always make are the most tiresome thing ever. I just cannot understand the way they behave! Demons have hierarchy, you know?" He sounded tired and annoyed as he glared at the coffee, I wasn't sure if he was really asking a question or just ranting still probably best to answer.

"I'm aware of your judicial system, I was in jail once." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Why?"

"Al got me into trouble. It was a survival matter. Al wanted to kill me and I switched our summoning names."

"You do things not even demons would dare to do, Rachel." He laughed amused. "Anyway, there is a conspiracy against Newt. They want to kill her, but that is not easy. And they are counting on your ability to have demon babies, that detail Zarthimeatreal didn't know, but I do, there's no other reason they would dare to move against Newt when so far she has been the only one capable of breeding a new generation of demons." He sipped the coffee. I could almost hear his mental moan of pleasure.

"So, it was never the plan to let Borgia kill me?" I frowned lightly, pensive.

"They aren't going to let her kill you, but believe me, she can do pretty horrible things to you, even if she doesn't kill you, that bitch has quite an imagination." he smiled. "One would pay only to see her in action... but, green eyes, the body can endure a lot of agony without dying and well… a few years of pain would leave you much more obedient when they finally dragged you into the ever after." He opined with a slight tone, even when inside he hardened at the thought.

"It's reassuring to know I could make a good show even in my worst moment." I laughed without any humor.

"No one suspects the truth so far, Rachel. The demons do not have any clue you are a reaper now. And you are already stronger than you were only a couple of months ago. You are evolving too fast for a reaper. Have you killed any more demons?" he asked interested.

"Barcharolloael attacked me barely two days ago." I nodded. "And two days before that there were 3, I thought I would die, one almost killed my baby as well." I said bitterly. I felt like dying when my baby was going through such an ordeal. Even though I was speaking to a demon of killing other demons I felt, for some crazy reason, that I could trust J, I knew he had no remorse about killing his own kind.

"Yes, I can feel her. She is a baby, but she is already a reaper. That fool only delayed more the only possible salvation for our race!" he sighed not at all resigned but bothered, it was more a puff. "I would like to see her, however she has no control yet and she would attack me or run away from me, even if I do not respond the attack. How could that happen?"

"I don't know. But I almost lost my baby." I frowned. "Three demons, I didn't know their names, I let the focus kill them. I only paralyzed them for the wolf." I shrugged. "And I destroyed the focus with all the energy and magic they were carrying, as well a quantity of ley line that almost fried my brain." I shook my head.

"You should keep a low profile. The moment the regular demons know you became a reaper, that moment you are dead, green eyes." The demon warned me with no need. I was very aware of that fact.

"Al knows, he escaped, daylight saved him from me. I turned into reaper when he attacked me the day I woke up from my coma." I revealed to him. He creased his eyebrows a bit.

"Algalariept?" he asked. I could feel his anger under the cool surface. Yes, he felt anger and at the same time bewilderment.

"Yes."

"He is warrior class, Rachel; you should have died that day… I do not like him; he is too greedy and too ambitious for his own good. Until now, he has been lucky. He is a rule breaker, he always has been. In the old days, he would be dead long time ago. I knew about the arrangement, he was supposed to teach you, and Newt was Ok with that. Newt knows about you, she thinks of you as her foster kid."

"I have a mother, thank you very much." I sighed.

"So, Algalariept knows, but he has been keeping it secret. I know he is sick, everybody thinks the traitors attacked him, and he let them think that way. Newt will snap and kill you if she even suspects what has happened to you, green eyes. She has a thing against reapers. She gets positively insane when she even hears about them. Newt has been respected so far, because she is the last female standing, and the only hope for our race to endure. Many think the best thing would be to sedate her and knock her up." He explained me. I wondered if that was possible. Minias made her forget; however, she was willing to forget some things.

"But she is way too powerful, and things don't work like that. Demons and witches have that in common, to achieve a pregnancy, the female body must react to her partner, and Newt's hasn't reacted in 5 thousand years. She has never been in love with anyone, or wanted to have a child. Now, if some of them are thinking you can have babies…well, you have to understand demons think of witches as a lesser race…" He explained to me concernedly. "… the only reason they had waited this long is their skepticism, most of them must think of you as a witch and not a protodemon. Some surely think a witch can only breed lesser than demon children, half breeds and 'weaker' etc. Very few think of you as stunted demon or a protodemon; so most won't make a move against Newt until they see proof you can provide demon babies, complete demons." His voice was grave, but soft.

"I got that very clear a long time ago. Thanks again." I couldn't avoid forming a frown.

"It was not meant as an insult, you are more demon than witch, green eyes… no, you were more demon than witch, now, you are a reaper. They are planning on snatching you, and knocking you up. They think that being a witch; you would be easy to control. If they can do that, a demon baby would convince everyone to get rid of Newt. But Newt remains our best hope for now, your descendant is already a reaper and she will be strict to her descendants as well, no way a demon have a chance of romancing one of your descendants for at least three or four generations, maybe even more. I know you will warn your child, and she will do the same with hers. Or maybe she never gets pregnant out of fear. Rachel, you have to watch your back…" He shook his head. "Here." He put some vials on the table, "They're active, even if your blood can still trigger demon magic; I figured you would have some visitors. I made seven anti-curses. And here..." He took another vial from his belt.

"Extend your hand." He asked me. I put my hand, palm down in the center of the table, between us. I saw him opening the vial and pure energy passed to my hidden marks, from the little vessel. "That's the recipe, now you can do the counter curse yourself. Maeve has bitten a lot of vamps, and you cannot trust them. You have Barcharolloael remains, so, you can free them yourself. But no other needs to know you can. That other vamp bitch, Sophia…She doesn't use demons. But maybe she is tempted to start. She surely has a lot of cursed people around her. Now, drink the vials." I asked me. It was a sudden change of subject.

"What?" I blinked dumbfounded for a second, I didn't see that coming.

"Drink the vials, I'm giving you 7 anti curses already prepared, after that, you have to do the anti-curse yourself. So, you can tell them you will be able to lift the curse for only seven days, and after that it's over." He proposed with a sly smile. It was a great idea to get off my back two Master Vampires in the matter of the counter curse.

He showed me the right finger moves and the way of gathering the energy, it was fairly easy. Then he sighed.

"Have you figured out how to release the debts you have collected?"

"Not yet, but if it is a magical binding contract, then I can break it…" I ventured.

"Exactly, you can break it…" he snorted and rolled his eyes at me. "…honestly I had expected you to have worked it out by now" he sounded a bit disappointed and a bit bothered.

"Well, I couldn't do it anyway. If I had broken the contract then they would know you didn't teach me. I don't want them getting any more ideas about me or about demons." I defended myself.

"In that you're right, you don't need more attention or more gossip about you. And more witches trying to trap demons as familiars is a thing bad for them, not for demons. We can defend ourselves against witches easily. You're a reaper, not a witch. You can easily kill lesser demons like that one." He shrugged the broad shoulders with a giggle. "Try to break the contract." He asked me amused.

I focused on the connection I felt since the day before with the twins. And the back of my mind gave me an instruction I didn't say aloud.

"Seems that worked just fine." He said looking at the archway where one of the living vampires guarding Natalie was staring at us.

"Thanks, J." I nodded, with a tiny smile.

"That wasn't a difficult one, green eyes, any magic caster knows the rules. It's vitally important that you don't cross Newt's path, Rachel." He asked me.

"You hate Newt for killing your mate and your child, but you don't want her dead?" I felt a little confused.

"She is my sister, Rachel, My older, half sister. We came from a different father, but our mother was the same. I loved her very much once. We are probably the most powerful demons nowadays, and she is slightly stronger than I am, but being out of her mind, the edge could be on either side if we fight sometime. She misses me, and I miss her, but I just keep seeing my mate's corpse when I look at her. It has been more than 5 thousand years and I still cannot forgive her. I cannot blame her for liking you, Rachel, I like you and you are my natural enemy." he sighed somewhat pensive now.

I felt overwhelmed. Newt had a half brother? And it was Juveuos? They had not a familiar resemblance at all. I blinked twice, but I didn't make any comment, really what could I say?

"Really, Rachel, I think if I had known you before the reaper thing, you would have been my new mate." he laughed. "No way you would have gotten rid of me; I would have nagged you until you said yes!" he said almost serious but still playfully.

"I don't know, when I dated males I always liked my men to be not that strong, I ..." I blushed trailing off and he laughed once more, amused and nostalgic at the same time.

"You like to take control in bed once in a while? You're perfect, green eyes!" he laughed again. "You be careful, with things as they are in the ever after, you are in danger, some demons will kill you without hesitation, others will enslave you. Be careful. Anyways the offer still stands; you can call me whenever you need. I will help as I did this time. You can't reveal yourself to the vamps either. You should keep the secret, Rachel. _At any cost_. I will see if I can get rid of Algalariept for you and your baby." He promised. "I'm already preparing a neat present for your heirs, you know? As soon as the baby vamp is born I will deliver it to them wherever you are." He smiled devilishly and my heart fell to my stomach. My reaper numbness hid my reaction from him. He finished his mug with a satisfied grin upon his face.

"You know I will protect your line until I can have my own descendant." He reminded me. He was sincere; he was doing this for his own benefit in the future, not for me, or for my babies. A future that I might not witness, he had solemnly sworn to himself to have a son with one of my descendants. A shiver went down my spine while he said good bye and disappeared, lifting the dampening spell.

I sighed tiredly. Ivy was hurrying towards me, with a frown. To be fair I was amazed she had managed to resist standing in the hallway and glaring since J began to flirt more openly with me.

"_Why __is he always flirting with you?"_ she didn't ask me, she was complaining directly to my mind. She had been very aware of my interaction with the demon. _"And what the hell does he want with our babies?"_

"_He is playing with me, Ivy, and he loves seeing you upset, you make it easy for him and he enjoys pissing people off. He's a demon!" I shrugged my shoulders. "At least he didn't insist on taking me to the ever after." I sighed. "You don't have a real idea of how dangerous he is! I really don't want to deal with him again. Any day he could kill me, or take me to the ever after against my will."_ stared at the table blankly.

"What was that dampening spell about?" she asked me aloud. While letting me know in my mind that, that detail had bothered both Natalie and Rynn.

"I should have thought he wouldn't reveal the secret to everybody, demons are secretive of their curses, he was telling me how to use the counter curse, Ivy. As if any witch could do it, it's not like he was going to give me the recipe." I said_._ "Demons!" I shook my head. "Traders or warrior class, they share a lot of attitude even if they don't want to acknowledge it."

"_We'll talk about __everything later when we're alone:" _I added with a smile, looking at the empty vials.

Ivy gestured to the empty vials on the table.

"What's this?" she asked me, whilst Robert made his appearance behind her.

"But they are empty, Rachel." Robert said in the archway. Ivy grabbed softly my arm and we walked to him.

"It was his way of delivering his end of the deal, Robert. He made me able to lift the curse on anyone for a period of 7 days. Starting the moment I drank the last vial. After that, no more anti curse. So, we have 7 days to locate and free from Borgia's influence everyone she bit." I explained to him, while we joined him in the archway.

"So, you will be able to lift the curse on every body that Borgia has bitten?" Rynn said as soon we entered the room.

"Yes, but only for a seven days period, starting right now, Rynn." I repeated. "I guess you have to call everyone to your HQ and I will be checking on all of them, if they are not many, maybe in one day we can free them all, but you have to call even the ones you have sent to other places, we have no idea where and how Borgia moved." I said to him worried.

"It's a short frame of time. And of course I want my own camarilla safe and free from unknowing moles." Natalie pointed out with that seductive calm voice of hers. Turn it! I should have known the Californian master vampire wasn't going to be treated as less important than Rynn in this matter.

If someone else thought it was weird the woman had Skimmer on her lap, the petit body almost curled against her upper torso and the blond head comfortably leaned on her shoulder, I couldn't tell. It was a vampire matter, involving the scent. If Natalie was claiming Skimmer again, having her scent mixed with hers was a crucial step to make feel the petit vamp comfortable and safe with that claiming.

"That is understandable, Natalie, we cannot afford having involuntary traitors moving against us from within our own ranks." Rynn nodded. He was very aware that if he wanted her support, he had to make concessions; even if this could be very uncomfortable for me. I was already seeing myself in that bitch's camarilla.

"What do you think if you go ahead to California, and make your witches check on everyone in advance; perhaps they will be able to recognize some of the unwilling moles, while Rachel cleans my house of Borgia's unwilling slaves. After that, I will send them on a flight to California, so she can clean your house as well." Rynn offered in a cool nonchalant way.

"Send them openly?" Natalie seemed a bit surprised.

"Borgia already knows you and I are aware of her power play, Natalie. I think sending you the Tamwoods in a public way for the solstice party will make an impression on the others. Draw some other people our way." Rynn said confidently.

"Perhaps you are right. A public show of support will send the message clearly to DeLavine that he did not succeed in his plans. Certainly other Master vampires will consider join us if they have an idea of what is coming. They cannot be oblivious to all the signs. A public appearance of the Tamwoods in my house will make them wonder…" Natalie deemed aloud. "I would like you to free my Skimmer right now, though, Rachel Morgan."

"Of course." I focused and called the counter curse, making the right hand gestures to activate it.

I examined her aura with my second sight. Skimmer trembled physically for several seconds. After that, the smut tainting her aura acted like normal smut, it was no longer making swirls as if it had its own will. Now it wasn't a coat of oily blackness; now it was a charcoal one – normal.

"She is still tainted." Melissa said frowning.

"Yes, the smut she must clear it normally, with time and good deeds, balancing the karma. But if you look, the smut is not acting weirdly anymore." I pointed. "She is free, now I will wake her up." I switched to lifting the sleepy ley line charm I put on her.

Her eyelids fluttered a moment. Skimmer's eyes went wide and rapidly blackened out of fear. Natalie flinched slightly at that, but her arms tightened around the blond living vampire gently.

"It is fine, my little one, I did not order your death, it was Borgia. She managed to control Heather the same way she did you. Jenny honestly thought the order came from me, because Heather was the one delivering instructions and money. Jenny and Blanche have been taking care of you day and night since I got you back." She explained clearly and sweetly. Skimmer hugged her like her life depended on it, sobbing relieved.

Natalie hugged her back tightly, murmuring softly "there, there" and "All will be alright, little one" She was a striking mix between a mother and a lover. Her hands stroked Skimmer's back and one of the petit blonde vamp's thighs trying to comfort her. Certainly, Natalie seemed utterly human. No wonder Skimmer wanted the next best thing in her eyes and that was my Ivy.

"I don't hear her anymore!" Skimmer seemed baffled for a second. Natalie gave her a very elegant, white handkerchief, riveted in delicate lace, made of a very soft fabric. Skimmer cleaned her face. "Am I…free?" she asked her mistress still unsure.

"Yes, you are." Ivy answered her. Skimmer glanced our way. Ivy and I were still standing side by side, closer to the archway than Rynn's couch.

"You didn't tell me Natalie wasn't the one trying to kill us." Skimmer reproached her.

"We couldn't risk it. You were still under Borgia's influence. However, things did not go as planned, so she knows already, you're not safe, Skimmer. Borgia certainly does not enjoy losing a match. She will be targeting you. Be careful, you cannot risk a thing. You will have to maintain a low profile for a good while." Ivy let her know in a normal volume, but my lover seemed genuinely concerned. Skimmer was a part of her past and she didn't wish her ill. I wasn't as good as Ivy regarding Skimmer.

"But… DeLavine is…" Skimmer seemed to remember, she went limp in Natalie's arms, refusing her, depressed instantly.

"Let me worry about him, my little one, you will come home with me and that is my last word on the matter. I will protect you from Borgia." Natalie said, and Skimmer hugged her again. "Heather is asleep in the car. Bring her here, Blanche, please."

"Yes, master." The undead went out at vamp speed.

"I will send Kimberly as my representative to your house, Natalie. They will arrive early on Thursday morning, before sunrise. That way Rachel will have three days to clean your house as well. Only, Rachel and Ivy will not stay in your house, Natalie. I understand Rachel's mother lives a few miles from your mansion. Rachel and Ivy can stay with her."

"What do you mean they are not going to be guests in my house, Rynn? Are you thinking I am going to make something…" she stopped mid-sentence and I tensed feeling more than hearing a mental cry of pain. _My baby!_ _Tammy is hurt!_ My heart clenched and I felt frozen for a second, long enough to witness the next events to occur.

All the vamps looked to the door. I could hear the muffled sounds of a chase and pleading words. The physical whining of a canine cub was loud over it. My heart clenched even harder as I felt the pain again. I saw my little black wolf cub running into the room at full pelt. She didn't stop whining and she had a limp. She fell and rolled on the floor twice but she got up both times and continued running on her three good legs. I could feel her pain and I rushed to her while Erica whom was very flushed and practically crawling on the floor peaked inside the room, she got on her feet, embarrassed.

"Sorry, V." the teen vampire said almost without a voice. "She fell off the couch running away from me; you might want to check if she's badly hurt."

Ivy was moving at vamp speed and she passed me easily. She lifted our cub swiftly from the floor, trying not to cause her anymore pain. She cradled the black cub in her arms protectively. I had to stop myself from crashing into Ivy as I rushed to her. Our tiny black wolf cub cried even louder when her right back leg was bent.

"Oh, God!" Ivy's eyes were all pupils now, fear in them. I touched the furry black head.

"Honey, please, be still, we need to know where it hurts, tell me where it hurts." I asked her trembling a bit. "Back leg, ok, sweetheart, let's make the pain go away." I rushed into the kitchen with Ivy at my back, the protocol of dealing with master vampires forgotten. I took the pain amulet I used the day before and the moment I hung it by the black leather cord to the furry neck, our baby stopped whining. Ivy stretched carefully the injured leg, examining it with experienced long fingers.

"_It's not broken."_ She exhaled in relief, switching naturally into our intimate mental communication. _"She has a little bump tough. It must be a pulled muscle." _She was as worried as a first time mother could be. She was trembling slightly out of fear and relief at the same time. I was too.

"_She will be fine, babe, as soon she changes back to witch, she will heal. And now, she is not in pain anymore." _I cajoled her mentally, hugging her by the waist, my hand made soothing circles on her back. The other hand joined Ivy's caressing the black furry body of our daughter.

"_I__ know you're right, I will kill Rica!"_ she snarled back at me.

"_This is not your sister's fault. Our daughter is a magical tornado, my love; Erica surely tried to stop her and feared hurting Tammy if she grabbed her too firmly. I know she will be extra careful with our baby in the future. Don't chastise her; she is not to blame for our baby's restlessness." _

"_I know you're right, I just felt so impotent, so scared. She was in pain and crying so loudly."_ I could feel Ivy's heart clenching as she thought of our baby in pain.

"_It's ok; Tammy will be fine, nothing happened. All kids fall and scratch their knees once in a while."_I tried to be objective, and calm her down.

"_I wouldn't mind if it had happened 5 years from now!" _ My vamp glared at me. "_Damn! Now we have to go back. Fucking Master vamps and their fucking wills!"_ Ivy was really disturbed, she generally never swore. Twice in one day, had to be some kind of record. Ivy wasn't willing to hand over our black wolf cub to anyone, not even to me. I could feel her blaming herself for our daughters injuries, she felt like she had failed as a mother. So now her protective vampire instincts ruled her, our baby wasn't leaving her arms for a long time.

Blanche was returning from Natalie's limo carrying the sleeping Heather carefully and we walked back to the room following behind her. No doubt this Heather was another of Natalie's favorites or she wouldn't be the head of her living bodyguard corps. The blonde undead vampire spared us a curious look. Our baby began to growl at her and once we entered the room she turned her growls on all the Californian guests.

"Tammy, love, be civil. There's no danger and you have to stop growling at our guests." Ivy reprehended her softly. Tammy whined a bit, nuzzling the head against her mother's chest.

"That is exactly what I meant, Natalie." Rynn said, letting us know they had waited for us before continuing the meeting. "Tammy is a baby and there is no way of reasoning with her. I do not want any publicity on Ivy's babies at least until Morgan has been born." He let us all know as he put on his best concerned human face, transforming himself from an undead master vamp to a politician and former president.

"I need to protect these babies. By now, Borgia probably knows about Tamara, but she won't be sure about Morgan, none of the bitten moles know of Morgan's condition since Skimmer's attack. Anyway, my point is this: The moment Tamara feels threatened, the baby reacts, she can use ley line energy and she can do that particular transformation. I do not want them in any more danger. Besides, Morgan can overreact again if she feels threatened by another vampire. Ivy cannot spend too much time in a house full of vampires or the pheromones are going to trigger Morgan's territorial senses. Ivy is barely recovering from a near death experience. She cannot afford more injuries which threaten her health or the baby's. In Rachel's mother's house, Tammy will have her grandmother to look after her while Rachel is busy cleaning your house of moles." He reasoned softly. He was so gently cajoling and caring; a priest would be proud.

However I didn't feel so reassured. I had imposed enough on my Mom. She was already risking being shunned because she still was talking to me and currently staying with me. I couldn't ask her to risk even more. I couldn't make her a target for Borgia as well. But Rynn wasn't taking that into consideration. He was only concerned with keeping news about our babies quiet, my mother's life was not something he cared about.

"In order to avoid risks they should stay in a vampire free house. While I do not intentionally use pheromones around Ivy when I spoke with her last night she confirmed that Morgan has become very active on those few occasions when I have released pheromones." His voice was smooth with just the right hint of concern.

"_He's lying I never said anything like that to him." _Ivy's voice was a comforting presence in my mind. Rynn carried on listing – or making up reasons why we should stay with my mom. It seemed he wanted Ivy's family to travel and stay with us as well.

"_It's ok, babe I guess he really doesn't want us stopping with Natalie." _Ivy must have picked up on my annoyance.

"_You want us to stop with Natalie?" _she sounded stunned.

"_No I just don't want to expose my mom to more risk. I wish we could stop somewhere else entirely." _Just then our conversation was cut short by Ivy's father.

"Is everything fine with Tammy, Ivy?" Robert asked.

"It seems so, dad. She hurt her leg a bit jumping off the couch." She sighed, gently massaging the injured leg between her thumb and index fingers. Tammy was nuzzling against her chest, between her breasts. "The bones seem to be fine, so it must be a pulled muscle." Ivy explained worry evident in her voice.

"She'll be fine soon, Ivy. The amulet worked and she is no pain at all now." My hand made yet another soothing circle on Ivy's back.

"It is true we cannot reason with a baby, babies only know their own needs. I have to accept that, unfortunately, the first encounter was a bit hostile. It's understandable she feels threatened and she behaves like that every time she sees us." Natalie's eyes ran covetously over Ivy and Tammy, her gaze lingering on the barely visible baby bump.

"I understand, Rynn. These babies are too special and too valuable to knowingly put them at any risk. Interspecies breeding surely will be a matter many are not going to approve of for a long time. However, the baby witch is not a week old and she is doing magic teenagers cannot do whilst the baby vampire is as strong as a teenager at four months from birth. I would be protective of them as well. I assume you are going to send a guard with them." She asked politely her fingers running gently through Skimmer's hair as she smiled at Rynn.

"You assume right, Natalie, I will send two teams of bodyguards for them, to watch over them 24/7. We do not know if Borgia is going to try to kill them again." Rynn said worried. "I know you cannot allow my team inside your place, your security measures are exceptional, and I know you are probably planning already to at least double the guard at your house. But I can't help worrying, please take extra care of them."

"Yes, of course, I know first hand that when Borgia has an objective, the mark always dies. Unfortunately, for the time being, we are all targets. However, I would like to propose and alternative housing solution. I have a cottage on my property. They can stay there, it's near my house and connected to it underground, but it's an independent building. There will be no other vampires or anyone else there, so it shouldn't upset the babies. And there is room for your bodyguard team to stay there of course. Kathy is Blanche's Scion and she's human. She can be there and organize everything, to ensure that you're well attended; I can put a little crew of humans in the service. I will only send humans to the upper levels. The babies will not feel threatened at all." Natalie offered with grace and very believable concern.

Ivy's mind slipped into mine again "_Well you said you wanted us to stop somewhere else dear heart, what do you think?" _

"_So far it sounds like a good alternative. Of course she is going to be using Blanche's scion and the other humans to spy on us." _

Ivy laughed and I felt things low in my gut tighten, I loved the sound of Ivy's laughter._ "What else do you expect dear? She was always going to spy on us at least we know how she's going to be doing it." _

"If you make Rachel's mother host them, you are also putting her in Borgia's sights. She will take measures after they're gone. Why endanger people that have no part in vampire quarrels?" she asked.

"I was planning on giving her a guard until the war was over. But you have provided me with a very acceptable alternative option, Natalie. If you have an entire guest house then the babies will be reasonably isolated from vampires that are strange to them. What do you say if we move to my headquarters to discuss the terms of the allegiance?" Rynn nodded.

I freed Heather before both parties left. Kimberly went with Rynn, she was becoming very involved in the camarilla's projects; very soon she would be Rynn's right hand. Kimberly had to assure the position of her line; now more than ever; because Ivy had to dedicate herself to raising our daughters. Morgan was going to be the strongest Tamwood heir ever.

"Finally!" Ivy sighed when the last car motor's noise had faded. "Are you ok? Removing the curses is not painful or too stressing?" she asked me concerned.

"No, it's just like casting a ley line sleep charm, don't worry." I kissed her cheek. Tammy was asleep in her arms, still a wolf cub.

"We can't put her in the cradle like that." I blinked.

"She will be hungry in a couple of hours. I can carry her till then." Ivy dismissed the idea of putting Tammy down instantly and I giggled.

"You are such a mother hen. You want your chick under your wing all the time." I mocked her.

"Careful, dear… if you want to get under my wing tonight, I suggest you watch your mouth." She retorted and I lifted my hand to my heart as if I was being shot. Then I simulated closing a zipper over my lips. She giggled and I kissed her lightly.

"What is this about going to the solstice party at that woman's house?" Mom came with a frown.

"We can escape and go to your house to have a bit of party as well, Alice. I'm very sorry. It is my fault." Ivy said truly sorry. "I know you and Rachel had all this plans for Tammy's first solstice."

Mom seemed a bit embarrassed herself, she never liked to be rude, and she had been to us. She knew Ivy took it by heart, and Ivy was her pregnant daughter in law.

"No, sweetie, it's not your fault. But you can bring Tammy early, or we can collect her, anyways you have to go to that party. If I have Tammy I know you two will find a way to escape." Mom proposed.

"Great thinking, Alice. It's a deal. I know Tammy is going to be safe with you." Ivy nodded; she was relieved we could do something to make it up to my Mom.

"Anyways, Don cannot make it here. His agent booked a gig for the Solstice in California. It was done. He was heartbroken when he told me this afternoon. This way he can be there at least a little while too. He's so anxious to meet Tammy at last…" Mom hugged me by the waist.

* * *

Phyllis McEnroe came at two o'clock sharp. The doorbell rang. I knew she wasn't happy that all her efforts the day before to leave a spy charm were in vain. I knew she wasn't as confident as she had been yesterday and I wasn't such a stupid witch in her eyes now. I guessed until now nobody had done that to her. Her charms were so tiny and inconspicuous.

David had met them at the front door and brought them to the office. It wasn't big, but it had two desks, and Ivy's laptop on top of one. A more office looking desk top was on mine. Some book cases. Now we looked more professional for sure.

"Here's my answer. I will attend the audience on the day and at the hour they appointed." I said to her offering a closed envelope addressed to the Coven. Jillian had her arms crossed over her middle still in the open door. She was even more displeased than the day before. She didn't want to be here. She looked like a sullen teenager that had been grounded.

"This is a written contract, Rachel Morgan. If for any reason you don't go to the audience, you will automatically be a wanted black witch. The hunting would begin the same day." Phyllis warned me. "Do you still want me to deliver this envelope?" she asked seriously.

"I'm aware of the implications. I am not a black witch. I passed through hell. I will give them my version of the facts. The entire story behind that summoning is all I can offer." I said with a sigh. "Thank you for your troubles."

"Fine."

"And please, don't leave another lot of spying charms. I'm a runner. I work with them some times. That looks bad for a Coven witch." I asked her. I saw her flinching, the little sign of the anger behind her fake smile. "I have to hand it to you. This is only the second time I have seen such tiny charms. You're a very talented witch, mine are a bit bigger; but I'm working to improve." I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess I will be seeing you at the audience."

"Yes. And it's indeed the first time someone was capable of finding all my spy devices." She said a bit offended, managing to make it look like it was only a playful reproach, rather than a thinly veiled accusation that I had used some kind of black curse to find them. She even managed to keep most of the bitter anger out of her voice.

"I figured that much. How many times have you dealt with a runner before?" I wasn't going to lose my temper, I had done nothing wrong.

"There's a first time for everything I guess." She nodded, defeated by the logic of the argument.

The witches left carrying my letter to the coven. I knew they would be spying on me. I sighed, staying in a master vampire's lair was not going to look good, but I didn't have a choice.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" I said unnecessarily, just for the sake of the sound of it. It was a cliché, cliché was good. If I was being honest I had always wanted to say that. Josephine darted from the sanctuary pouring golden pixie dust.

"They're in the kitchen, Miss Morgan. Miss Britt and Miss Reynolds are here. Rez and Bis are playing with us." She told me.

"Have fun, Josephine. Thanks for the info." I smiled to her leaving my shoes at the rack Ivy insisted on having by the door. I put a pair of slippers on. Ivy was coming and she hugged me.

"Welcome back, dear." She kissed me intensely, I kissed her back. If this was the kind of welcome saying that cliché got me then I was saying it every time I walked in from now on. "How was it?" she asked me quietly. I shrugged my shoulders.

"It was easy and not as stressful as I thought. Rynn made them come one by one. I found only 13 so far." I informed her.

"More than uncomfortable, Borgia might know much more than Rynn would like. Anyways, Claire and Rena had to leave the car at the shop for maintenance. Your mom and Claire are making a special dinner. They have passed the entire afternoon baking goodies." She let me know. "And our baby just ate and now she wants you to give her the bottle, she went crazy as soon she heard you." She smiled while we walked together in to the kitchen, embraced by the waists with one arm. I could tell, my mind had been receiving her claims since before I even opened the door.

"Hello, good evening everyone. Hi, my little witchy tornado." Tammy was in Renata's arms. She waved and squeaked for my attention. I offered my arms and she began her demanding baby talk. "I'm sorry, little one, I had to work." I kissed her nose and her cheeks. She had already tangled both hands in my hair. The kitchen smelt great. It was very warm too. I could smell the pies, the cookies, the brownies, and I could smell turkey.

Mom was with Claire, both at the stove stirring pots. Cali was slicing some herbs on the nearer by counter whilst Cynthia was making little tomato flowers by her side. Serena was sat at the table eating a piece of butterscotch pie. Ivy had a plate eaten in half by my pack mate's side. But she handed me the warm bottle of tea before going back to her plate.

"Hi, sweetheart." Mom greeted me.

"Hi, Mom. Are you having fun?

"Oh yes! Claire is an ace cooking." She said sincerely. She had admired her cooking since I had a memory. It surely was a dream came true the fact she was cooking with her idol.

"I have to be to make a living from it, Alice. Hi, Kiddo." The old cook laughed amused. "Tammy has been very restless, she missed you."

"Is that so, baby? I missed you too. I will play with you until you fall asleep, I promise." I cuddled my tiny witch.

"Hi, Rache." Erica came from the living room. "David is too shy to come for another batch of cookies." She said. "We're watching some movies, you want to join us?" she offered coolly.

"Maybe later, Erica. Tammy wants to play." I declined with a smile.

"I'm sorry for yesterday, Rache." She blushed a bit.

"You didn't want to hurt her. I cannot blame you for that, honey, and this little bundle is too restless for her own sake." I cajoled her. "I just can't imagine how is going to be when she learns to crawl or to walk – without turning into a wolf. We're ok, honey." I smiled to her from my usual chair. Tammy was already drinking her bottle.

"Thanks." She nodded and filled a bowl with brownies and cookies, along with two big glasses of milk. "David is putting the latest version of The Werewolf on next, you sure you don't want to join us?"

"I'm going to go watch it too." Serena said. "I think you said you haven't seen it all, Rena." She invited the other were.

"Ok, I'll go too. Just let me nuke some popcorn." Rena said.

"Great idea!" Erica nodded.

"Should you be eating that many sweets before dinner?" Cynthia asked shyly. The vamps and weres laughed amused. My baby shot glances at everybody curious, she wanted to know why they were so happy.

"You have never been near other races, have you, Cyn?" Ivy asked. "Weres and vampires have very fast metabolisms. Claire said the turkey won't be ready until near midnight. It's only nine now. In three hours we will be starving again. We all have snacks between meals, it's just you haven't caught us while we eat them. Or maybe you haven't noticed that when you have barely eaten 1 or 2 pancakes, we have already eaten 10." She shrugged her shoulders.

"I thought it was because you are pregnant." My sister in law blushed.

"We're here to say goodbye." Rena said trying to stop the conversation from becoming awkward. "Natalie called Claire and pulled the friendship card. She is organizing a Solstice party. Claire is going to do the banquet personally." Rena let me now. "I didn't want to say yes, but I had to, you don't want a master vampire to hold a grudge against you." Rena sighed bitterly. "She is good business, but she's too special." The young were shook her head. "I was really looking forward to the Solstice dinner with you guys but…" she began to apologize. She trailed off when Ivy raised her hand.

"Well, I'm glad you mentioned it first. We had to change our plans as well. Rynn is sending us to California to attend to Natalie's party." Ivy sighed somberly.

"What?"

"Yes. We are already packing. We're going to pass the solstice with Alice and Cyn, we had already promise them." Serena let her know.

Cali nodded finishing with the herbs. "Rache and Ives are going to escape from Natalie's party as soon they can to pass the Solstice with us as well, it's going to be the first with the whole pack."

"And if you're in California too, then you are very welcome to visit my house." Mom said hopefully.

"But of course! This way the plans are still on track. We only change the location!" Renata nodded energetically. "Thanks for the invitation, Alice." She smiled brightly.

"See, kiddo? Things usually work themselves out." Claire giggled still stirring something in a pot.

"It is my pleasure, sweetie." Mom smiled at her. "Go have some fun. I know you need some distraction from the kitchen as well."

"We're packing, should I take a bikini?" Serena asked Renata friendly. My pack mate was taking a bowl from a cabinet. She went to put her near Renata. The popcorn was coming out the microwave oven. "I know you lived there for years."

"Well, the temperature drops a bit in the nights, but many people use the beaches even in winter." Cynthia said before Rena could. She was a Californian girl as well.

"Especially the weres and vampires, we don't get cold as easily as humans." Renata nodded.

"Yes!" Serena helped her to pour the popcorn into the bowl she brought her.

"Go, kids. We will finish the dinner. The more the merrier when you see a scary movie." Mom looked at Cynthia who had finished her task. "Go, kids, before David starts the movie without you."

"Ok, I wanted to see that movie too, but Robbie is not a fan." My sister in law went with my pack mates and Ivy's sister to the living room. They were loaded with sweets, snacks and beverages.

Suddenly I felt a charm being cast. Confused I looked up at Claire we were surrounded by a dampening spell much like J's. But Claire hadn't tapped the line, I didn't have a clue how she managed to cast the spell.

"What is it, Claire?" I asked a bit concerned.

"We haven't talked about you know what, kiddo." She left the pot at last and came to join Ivy and me at the table making herself a mug of coffee on the way. Mom stayed at the stove. Ivy put down her fork, instantly focusing on Claire. Maybe it was time for our long overdue chat about reapers and their secrets. My heart raced with anticipation. Tammy's big blue almond eyes stared at Claire as well. My baby could feel the magic and sensed Claire as the senior of reapers. The old cook placed the mug of coffee ceremoniously on the table. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, which rested either side of her mug. Lacing her hands together she created a bridge and rested her chin on it.

She was wearing a wristband, a wide silver wristband. My eyes went wide and my jaw dropped. I felt the charm she just performed! But…but… she was using a silver restraint. Claire smug grin went wider. "You have good instincts, Rache… no doubt about it. You can do it if you want as well." She said confidently, as if she had read my mind. "So far you have depended too much on ley line power. You can always use it. But there are places where is too difficult to reach a line and there are circumstances when using a line is not wise. Almost any well trained witch can tell when someone taps a line. Then they are expecting the attack, or the spell, or whatever." She mused at normal volume before taking a sip of coffee.

"What is..she?" Ivy looked at me.

"She put a dampening spell in the kitchen, without using a line, and I couldn't tell, but I don't think she has used stored ley line either, she used something else." I explained to her. "She is wearing a silver restraint, Ivy."

"Aha, you have to learn, you can do it as well, kiddo. In fact I made this for you." She took a golden chain off from round her neck. There was a tiny silver key on it. She opened the silver wristband she was wearing. It was a stylized kind of shackle; it was delicate enough to pass for jewelry. It even had some stones on it, Jade and emeralds in geometric design which made it fashionable. When she offered it to me I saw the inside part of it. It had redwood inside, in two separated pieces; the band was made of two solid silver pieces joined by a strong silver hinge. It had a lock as well. "One side has a powerful healing charm, the other side a pain charm that is especially strong. You will need both when you start to train."

"Train?" Ivy asked her intrigued.

"Yes, sweetie. Rachel has to train, physically and magically. At first she is going to be in a lot of pain. She will get some injures as well but she is a target, so she needs to learn. If she gets condemned by the Coven to Alcatraz, then I will get her out. I will take her and you, of course, to a place nobody knows I have. It is an island. No ley line at all. Therefore, it's the perfect place for Rachel to learn control of elemental magic. At the very least Rache has to learn the basics and she also has to practice physical fighting and some weapon's management." Claire explained to us. "If she gets condemned, she might have to change her name and her complexion a bit. At least for few years, I can make the Coven forget about her, but too many people know her. Then the Coven's attention will be lured to her once more. She has to learn to maintain a low profile too. After a prudent lapse of time, she can be herself again, when people has forgotten her fame. Fame is a very voluble lady, so it won't be much, not in these days of instant fame and instant oblivion." She sighed. "In the island we can talk for real."

"Claire, are you sure you can get her out of Alcatraz?" Ivy asked openly.

"It won't be my first time escaping that rock, sweetie." She laughed. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief and she looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"You, as reaper, can manage all the elements, kiddo. Silver is a metal, it is an element, as are all the other things. Elemental magic can seem wild, but it is because when we were witches we weren't really free of using the elements, we never get even close to the freedom with we can use them as reapers. It's not wild, it's just a free current you can tap, and very few have the privilege to tap in to it. You don't have to use the bracelet now, but you will need it. I'm asking you to wear it now and then until you have to use it for real. I want you to get used to being isolated from the lines. At first you will be very uncomfortable, because you are too used to ley line. I made this for Tammy as well." She put a little bracelet at the table, a minuscule bracelet made of silver with a tiny lock on it as well. "The same key opens this one. Tammy is using the line too much. She is wasting her bonus magic big time."

"Bonus magic?" I blinked.

"Yes, kiddo. I call it that, but it's a random way to name it. We are here to bring balance to the worlds. Demons are the greatest source of unbalance. Elves as well. However elves are doing it in other ways and not just magically anymore. Demons never pay for the magic they perform. We reapers pay as we are performing it. The stored curses meant you survived the pain and the suffering they brought with them. Sacrificing is the way of the reaper, pain is always there, we endure a quantity of pain no one else can. You have felt it more than once, Rachel. With the focus you knew by instinct you had to use the excess or it would kill you. Tammy knew as well. But reapers usually can't absorb magic from one another, or I would have helped her the way you did. I thought both of you were going to perish. I only tried once years ago, and that nearly killed me. The only explanation I can see is that you and Tammy were already connected before her birth. She trusted you with her life before she was even born. It an anomaly that I'm glad happened. I don't know why she turned into a reaper when she is just a baby. That special connection you have with the babies is the only explanation."

"They were the ones calling me, they were very afraid when Al came that day I turned into a reaper… Ivy's and their voices brought me back when I was about to die." I locked my eyes with my baby's. "So it is my fault she is a reaper now." I barely muttered feeling very guilty. Ivy hugged me by the shoulders.

"If she hadn't turned, then she would be a slave in the ever after, or the test subject of curses for a demon. That demon was taking her. He could send her to his house from there easily, long before you or me, or anyone could do anything to save her. Tammy becoming a reaper was for the best." Claire said, her voice firm and full of conviction. She smiled at my baby witch. "You simply are a very unique case. All the conventional things about a reaper simply don't apply to you. You do things differently from all the others. But that seems to be your fate."

"It's not your fault, Rachel. You were trying to save me in the first place. You killed yourself helping me." Ivy murmured into my ear.

"_Why do you always found a way to blame yourself?"_ I locked my eyes with hers.

"No one is to blame, it was fate. Tammy will be alright and she will learn quickly. I know it but the restraint will bother her a lot, she is still a baby. However, she will find the way to use elemental magic. Her instincts are sharper than anyone else's. She is all instincts." Claire said firmly and smiled to our baby.

Tammy looked at her when Ivy took the little silver restraint for her, examining it.

"Is this…hurting her in any way?" she asked seriously.

"No, it will just prevent her from tapping any ley lines, sweetie. She will feel bothered, because she is already used to having them available to her. But she has to learn, the faster, the better. It will take some time for her to figure out making magic this way. Unfortunately she absorbed a higher demon's magic. So, she has a lot of magic there, waiting to be used and I know she will find the way." Claire said with a sigh.

"What do you say, Tammy? Do you want to try it?" Ivy showed it to her. Tammy already was wearing a little bracelet with a tiny plate holding her name. Robert had brought it for her, in gold. He brought another for Morgan as well. Tammy liked the bright things. She waved her arm to her mother, leaving the bottle almost empty. "Ok, let's try it on." Ivy delicately locked the bracelet on her fragile left wrist. Tammy had the one her grandpa gave her on the right one.

She didn't feel it right away. I tried my own. It was a bit heavy because it was almost half an inch thick. I felt helpless because I knew I couldn't tap a line like this. At the same time my back relaxed a bit, my hand felt better, it was still a bit swollen in the knuckles from hitting Z. So it was true the charms worked fast and they were powerful.

"Just wear it when you know you're not in danger, Rachel. You have to learn first. You must be prepared for anything. So, what do you say if for starters you use it only while I'm close to you?" Claire proposed.

"Deal. I want to know so many things." I smiled to her.

"And you will, when the training begins, kiddo. For now you have your hands full." Claire retorted with a fond smile.

"Thank you, Claire."

"My pleasure." The old cook got on her feet. "I have to baste the turkey. Since we weren't going to be here, we wanted to celebrate the Solstice and the Christmas Eve in advance with you." She said.

"Ah! So that's why you are making turkey." I said. "So, we're practicing for Solstice and Christmas?" I asked Ivy whilst I was standing to make Tammy burp.

"We didn't put the decorations up but we're having a real banquet." My vamp smiled to me. "Mom and Dad are coming too, they said they will be collecting Rica around 11, but Dad said they will stay for dinner as well."

"Wow, then we better make the table presentable, honey." I worried a bit. Robert was casual, and even so, Ivy always tried to get the place at its top when he was coming. Kimberly was way more demanding.

"We have time." Ivy smiled at me. We both laughed when our baby burped hard.

"God! Are you alright honey?" Ivy bent a bit to see her closely. Tammy giggled and burped again less noisily. We laughed amused. We were having a nice night with family and friends. Soon we had to be in California. But for now, we could relax and have a good time. I kissed Ivy's ear, over her hair. She returned my kiss on my temple. _Why couldn't they at least put some mistletoe up?_


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm adding some characters of my own. Now we have to cool down and have a little quiet peaceful time, making work for the new ally. Alliances cost.

Thank you to all the people still reading my rambles. Gratitude to all the ones reviewing; you keep me going, guys. I'm very sorry for the long delay, my muse has been absent for a while. And I have a lot of things on my house and my job right now. I barely have time for solving the issues; my writing time had been very affected.

This chapter was long to do because all of the things I'm trying to manage, so I ended up cutting it like in half. No action this time, I'm sorry SangLune. But I have to prepare the next part carefully so I don't let loose ends and the entire thing remains logical and coherent. I'm sorry CosmicLove, but since the beginning I had planned for two girls… It could be interesting having a baby boy vampire, but I'm a bit stubborn and since we have only X chromosomes in the mix, for me, the logical thing would be putting only girls despite the magic. Morgan is coming soon, but I think not for another two or three chaps.

Natasha, I want to thank you again for your time, efforts and advices as priceless as ever. As well for the quantity of time you had to invest on it. I know you are very busy at work, and you again favored the corrections on my bad English over the writing of your own fic. But I know it's a lot better than it was when I sent it to you. Any mistakes left are my entire fault.

CHAPTER 29

Natalie's property was a vast estate of woods and gardens. The house, a great stone and marble mansion, resembled a museum. But it was the gardens that were the most breathtaking, mazes of tall bushes, sparkling fountains – decorated with what looked like gold, statues that looked to be older than then many nations, everything beautifully landscaped. Our limousine glided down a sinuous stone path as we all stared out the windows.

It felt like traveling through time, like seeing an ancient Greek ruin in its heyday - if you ignored the guards at the gate, the cameras and the tall walls ringing the estate topped with electric fences. The feeling of being in the past intensified as the car drove past a small Parthenon. White marble columns stretched towards the sky, the open space between them showing rich, vibrant frescos on several walls. We moved past it slowly and I twisted in my seat to stare at it.

As I tore my eyes away from the structure we entered in to a large wood. The stone path meandering through the lush trees until the woods opened up and a large lake appeared. It was beautiful. The low moon reflected off the pristine calm surface of the water. It was a fairy tale view. I wondered if Natalie ever swam in it. I could see Natalie swimming naked in it as she played the part of a Greek goddess, ravishing women like nymphs, surrounding her, pleading for her attention.

My eyes slid across the limousine to the women sitting opposite me. I also could picture my Ivy swimming naked there, but I felt more like a satyr than a nymph. My mind became lost in lustful images inside my head, mesmerized by the beauty of my vamp for some moments.

"_Has anyone ever told you that you have a very interesting and dirty mind?"_ the words were a soft purr inside my mind and I blushed a bit. Busted!

"_It's not my fault, you turned me into a sex addict, babe."_ I smiled at her, unrepentant. Tammy was asleep in her arms tired out from her first trip on a plane. Ivy's mom and sister sat flanking her, while her dad was sat beside me. I tried to ignore that I was having sexy thoughts about my wife as her family, who could no doubt smell my arousal surrounded us. Bis had come with us and the young gargoyle was curled in the luxurious leather seat by my left, taking a nap.

Two big black trucks escorted us. One in front, the other behind, they were filled with two teams of 6 bodyguards Rynn had sent to watch over us.

"_As long you are addicted to having sex only with me, I can live with it."_ She replied with a discrete smile upon her face, but the glint in her eyes was as lustful as I felt a moment ago.

The car slowed; there was a cottage by the lake. How such a large building could feel like a cottage I have no idea but it did, there was no way you could call this building anything else. It was a two story building, smoke drifted lazily out of a chimney in the roof and warm inviting light spilled from its windows. It reminded me of lying in bed listening to my mother read Grimm's fairy tales or a Hans Christian Anderson story. I could imagine the big bad wolf peaking around, hiding amongst the trees and planning on eating Red Riding Hood.

My eyes drifted back across the car and I licked my lips, Ivy looked good in red, yes, and I was an alpha bitch, wasn't I? I could be a very mean she-wolf if I wanted. My mind drifted once again, getting lost in my own dirty version of a fairy tale. I could hear Ivy trying to suffocate a giggle as her smile became smug and her eyes filled with lust.

"_Stop it!"_ she demanded but her voice was still a low throaty purr in my mind. I could almost feel her hands on my chest.

"_Sorry… I can't help it. You are my favorite fantasy. It must be this climate… so warm, I'm getting hot…."_

"_Later. Tonight, if you're good I'll make your fantasies come true." _Her half blackened eyes were filled with sensual promises.

I cleared my throat, glad to be getting out of the car and into the warm night air. I could feel the numerous, well hidden magical detectors all over the place. Finally I had met someone as paranoid as Trent Kalamack. Natalie liked her privacy and she had all kinds of surveillance devices, and I could tell some of the servants lined up outside the cottage to greet us, were really more guards, and simply dressed to inconspicuously melt in to the backgrounds as servants. It felt odd and awkward as the staff bowed to us, treating us like British aristocrats. A human woman greeted us and explained that Natalie had wished to give us a welcome in keeping with our status despite the fact most of the staff worked in the main house. She stepped through the door, holding it open for us.

I could hear Tammy starting to wake up as we were entering the place. Natalie was in the spacious living room waiting to welcome us. Her witches, Skimmer, Heather, Blanche and Jennifer stood to the side and slight behind her. There was also a human woman that I hadn't met before.

"Welcome, I hope the flight was pleasant." She greeted us. Natalie glanced at Jennifer who left to take the bodyguards to their accommodations. They would have rooms on the first underground level. Kimberly had the entire second level underground for her and Robert. Of course this was a guest house for undead. The cottage had a modern style of furniture and was delicately decorated, not in excess. It was lovely.

"It was very pleasant, Natalie. Thank you for your hospitality." Kimberly bowed before her, all of us did. Vampire manners were to be followed when you are a master vampire's guest.

"This is Katharine Neubach." Natalie introduced the human. She was about 5'7" in heels, beautiful lacy shoes that I instantly wished I could wear. She was undeniably attractive, great body very well dressed in a modest yet elegant fashion. A long but tight skirt, long sleeved silk blouse, and a short jacket all in two shades of blue combined with the startling big eyes behind designer glasses. The dark brown hair was up in a simple but elegant bun. She could be a very sexy librarian. "This is Blanche's Scion." The woman gave a little, graceful bow as well. "She will be in charge that you are well attended in here. Anything you need, please tell her. She will get it done."

Tammy squirmed in Ivy's arms, she whined, she was feeling very uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong with the baby, Ivy?" Natalie asked.

"She is feeling hot. The winter here is too warm for the clothes she's wearing." Ivy told her. "Shh, honey…We will put you into fresh clothes soon." She cajoled our baby and kissed her forehead. After struggling a bit with one hand against it, Tammy took off the warm hat with a triumphant "Da!" I barely caught it before it reached the floor. Her mane of curly ebony hair ended up all spiky and tousled.

"Ok, honey, be quiet, soon you'll feel better…" Ivy kissed her nose this time. Our tiny witch settled for taking one of her Mom's hands in her tiny ones.

"Very well I won't keep you much longer as I'm sure you would all like to get some rest after your journey. The cottage has its own gardens and pool however feel free to explore the rest of the grounds. If you wish to leave the estate for any reason, inform Katherine and she will make the arrangements. The house has an underground connection to the main house which you can access from the guest rooms underground. Kimberly, if you follow me I can show you, your room on my way out." Natalie's voice was kind and gracious, the perfect host.

"Of course. Thank you." Kimberly nodded and along with Robert followed Natalie to their guest rooms.

Ivy, Erica, Tammy and I were guided by Katherine Neubach to the upper levels. The bedroom she led us into was stunning. The bed was big enough not for two, but for at least 8 people, and circular. There was a fancy wooden- carved exquisitely-cradle added which stood out like a sore thumb, not matching at all the lustful mood of the entirely sexy and luxurious decoration.

"There, there, honey." Ivy began to undress our baby over the silky black covers on the bed. Tammy was already sweating inside the very thick clothes we put on her to take her out the church.

The door swung open and Erica entered without knocking. "Hey, my room is not as big as this one. And it does not have a jacuzzi tub in the terrace!" She immediately set about exploring our room. "Yikes!" she closed a squared ebony cabinet in the dressing room.

"Yikes?" Ivy arched her sculpted eyebrow, finishing with the undressing of our baby witch.

"Sex thingies!" Erica shuddered. "You don't have that kind of stuff in the church." she shook her head.

"You mean like dildos?" Ivy asked innocently, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"LaLALALALA." Erica covered her ears singing loudly. Ivy laughed. God! I loved her laughter. "I don't want to know, Ok, V? Too much information ruins your image in my eyes and you'll scar me for life!" she said. "Besides, you have an infant here. You don't want her asking uncomfortable questions before she's 8 years old… do you?" Erica collapsed on the bed next to Tammy.

"Da..nne, ri..." she grabbed her auntie's finger before Erica poked her ribcage.

"Bad auntie, yes, bad Auntie Rica." Ivy nuzzled the bare belly. Tammy burst into squeaky giggles.

"It's beautiful here, V." Erica changed the subject without any subtlety.

"Yes, and there's a lot of female living vampires looking for a fresh innocent teen to seduce, not to mention men. I know you can deal with them but be careful Natalie's camarilla has a much more relaxed view of sex. Don't be too friendly with any of the women or you could find yourself in her bed before you have time to realize it. Natalie is famous for her tendency to favor women and most of the women in her house are lesbians or at least very freely bisexual. They expect everyone here to be the same way. So be careful, ok?" Ivy wasn't kidding anymore. "Almost all rooms in her property are equipped with a cabinet like that."

"Yikes!" Erica rolled into the middle of the bed. "Can I sleep with you if I get scared?" she asked.

"You better try to face your fears." Ivy narrowed her eyes and they both laughed. "Only if you have nightmares or if someone tries to invade your room and you aren't up to it." She allowed her little sister. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to use the pool. Do you want to try, Tammy?" she offered our baby. "It's like a bath but much bigger" she tried to tempt her. I felt a bit concerned. But Ivy thought it was a brilliant idea. She had read about everything concerning babies since before I woke up from the coma. Swimming, she explained to me, was an activity that developed the motor skills of babies. Also, they never developed fear of water once they had learned to swim and the basic rules of it. It was all instinctive for babies.

It was either very late at night or very early in the morning depending on how you looked at it. However the pool was heated and the water temperature was warm, Natalie spared no expense. Erica took our baby from Ivy's arms as Ivy got into the pool. Ivy had put on a one piece black bathing suit; Erica was wearing a very tiny bikini in red. She wasn't as tall as Ivy, but her body looked more curvaceous for the very same reason. I could picture my daughter in 15 or 16 years from now. Tammy was so alike them both.

"Are you sure she doesn't at least need some arm floats, honey?" my heart was pounding with fear, as my daughter got all wet. Ivy was showing her the water. "She could catch a cold…" I sat on the edge of the pool my legs dangling in the water. I hadn't even brought a bathing suit with me. Ivy laughed as our baby squeaked because her Mom was carrying her in the arms protectively.

"Rachel, the fact you don't like pools doesn't mean our baby is not going to like it either…"

"I have never said I don't like them, Ivy. It's only that witches and water don't mix so well. I don't want to be isolated from a line right now. I know how to swim. Remember I survived in the river and I got Trent out with me."

"Big mistake…" she frowned a bit.

"Tammy is barely a week old, Ivy…" I objected

"And she loves water… you should be cooperating with me in this… connect to her and explain her she has to hold her breath and close her mouth." My sweet vamp was holding her now. Tammy was hitting the water with both hands. Our baby was pretty excited, her legs were already kicking. Ivy made sure to teach Tammy to kick, whilst she was holding her by her middle at first and by the hands later, in a gradual withdrawal of touch before letting her go only inches, her firm long hands were always very close to our little one.

Our baby understood the concepts of not opening her mouth and holding her breath immediately; partly because of her own inquisitive baby mind and partly because of the mental bond with me and the way I could explained to her what to do. She loved the water and the freedom she felt in her bathing suit, which was courtesy of Rica and her love for shopping now that she couldn't hang around with friends. Feeling what my little girl was feeling relaxed me, my fear washed away as I watched the Tamwood girls playing with my little witch in the water. Less than an hour later and she acting more like a mermaid than a witch, escaping from Ivy and Erica only to tease them and having a lot of fun. Fortunately she was a baby and she longed to eat and sleep soon enough giving us the chance to get to bed.

The underground passage between the guest cottage and main house wasn't the only one. As I walked through several underground passageways besides Melissa and Isabella the next day it became clear that Natalie had a whole complex underground with labyrinth-like corridors in all directions. She surely had more than one way out, just in case. There was a reason she had endured so many years walking this earth.

We were three stories beneath the earth I couldn't tell how far we had walked or even if we were still underneath Natalie's mansion or in another part of her estate. All the corridors looked alike to me and I had given up trying to keep track after five minutes, but I had seen Kimberly using her nose discretely to separate everyone in her mind. Ivy had tried to come down with me, however, after ten minutes the pheromones of many so different vampires and the faded scent of blood had made Morgan restless. So Kimberly decided she must wait back at the cottage, promising Ivy that she would take good care of me, and allow nobody to touch me. I was glad to see Ivy was having a much more cordial relationship with her mother.

We all took seats, and Melissa informed us that Natalie would be coming to talk to us before got started. Bis had come down with me, so that I would be able find a ley line to connect to. He had been very quiet and moved behind an armchair almost hiding. I looked over the room exploring it with my eyes as we sat waiting.

The room was a mix between library and living room. It had a lot of shelves with all kinds of books on them. There were comfortable armchairs, several reading lamps, and tables scattered around the room. Paintings of woods and forests adorned the walls. A big screen could be activated to see movies or TV. A little bar in a corner as well. One big table with chairs in front of the shelves dominated the back of the room. It could be used to read, research or have meetings. Two steps were in the middle of room, making the back half of the room slightly elevated.

I was just starting to get bored when the master vampire swept in to the room with a smile and her eyes resting on Kim with a slight frown as she sat down in an armchair.

"I thought Ivy was here as well."

"She was but the baby became too … restless. The pheromones in here triggered her senses and I sent her up before my granddaughter had another tantrum" Kimberly said.

"Good morning, Natalie."

"Good morning. Was the brunch satisfactory?"

"Oh yes, my compliments to your chef, Robert hasn't eaten with such enthusiasm since the last time Claire invited us to her house." Kimberly smiled.

"Ah, no one can cook like Claire. I'm certain that witches' olfactory senses make them better cooks than humans."

"Yes perhaps. Ivy says the same thing, Rachel's culinary abilities are improving so much, and I'm a witness to that. I have been at their place at least twice a month since she awoke from her coma. Claire is giving her lessons and the improvement in Rachel's skills is very pronounced." Kimberly confided.

"Lessons?"

"Cooking lessons, I was cooking dinner the first time we met. She came to hire me because she almost doesn't practice any witchcraft. She only does complexion amulets to maintain her appearance and some medicinal potions. She wanted us to investigate her accountants. I wasn't interested in taking a case so I excused myself saying my cream was about to ruin, next thing I knew…" I was saying. Natalie laughed and lifted one hand. I shut up.

"She was fixing your cream. Claire cannot stand over a stove without putting her hands on it. She simply can't." Natalie said in good spirits.

"Exactly, she said the sauce wasn't lost, but I needed to think out of the box, so she gives me cooking lessons every time she comes to check up on Ivy" I nodded. "After we solved her problem she offered to be Ivy's doctor."

"Yes, I heard about the fraud. I knew she had the training but I have never thought she could practice medicine again. She is a cook, and brilliant. If she were to practice magic she could run any coven." The master Vampire wasn't sure about my words; she suspected Claire was much more than she let the world see.

Isabella went behind the little bar. "What would you like to drink?" The kinder witch asked us while Natalie nodded and smiled to her pleased.

"Do you have cognac?" Kimberly decided after very little consideration.

"A very good one, I brought it with me from Europe a long time ago. I will have the same, dear." The master Vampire had a nice red dress on. She looked younger and vital, the color became her. She looked better in red or black than in white, it provided more contrast against her paleness. I was certain Skimmer's obsession with white had come from her master.

"Water for me, please, Isabella." I said. Natalie nodded her approval. I needed to be at the top of my game for her to be happy cleaning her camarilla.

"What do you say, Rachel? Is this room appropriate for your work?"

"It is very comfortable, thank you. Melissa and Isabella told me the way you planned to do it…" I said.

Natalie had decided to send the moles her twin witches had already spotted to me, one by one. Of course Melissa and Isabella were supervising my job. _As if they could do it! _Bis flew over to me, his claws digging lightly into my shoulder and the world spun as I felt all the ley line in the area. Selecting the nearest one which ran through the woods near the cottage I felt it wash over me. The line felt lighter here, tasting like a warm summers waiting for a thank you Bis flew over to the top shelve hunkering down and watching us like a little statue as he blended into the wall. The one arrived and I performed the counter curse easily.

Natalie only stayed with us for the first 4 subjects. All of them were women. All of them were beautiful, and all of them occasional lovers of the master vampire. I could sense she was pretty upset by the fact her camarilla had been invaded in such way by her old enemy, even if her face never betrayed her.

I guessed it bugged her even more that the bitch had touched her women. I could sense again her possessiveness. For Natalie all the people she touched were hers forever, even if she never wanted them again. She was concerned too, she had already detected more than 20, and that night Melissa and Isabella were continuing to check on the people she had sent to other places on business.

The waiting between the vampires who needed to have the counter curse dragged on and I was bored, Kimberly never seemed bothered by the long waiting periods. She was reading a thick book in a language I didn't recognize, just sitting there in an arm chair, looking astonishingly sexy with a mini dress that barely reached halfway up her very well formed thighs. Ivy's voice had popped into my mind as I stared at her mother's legs.

"_You best not be checking out my mother or I will never be dressing up as red riding hood." _I blushed darkly.

"_But you would look so good in a red cape" and nothing else, the back of my mind marked only to me. "I was just thinking how good you would look in that dress, your legs are longer and I remember how good you look in that sun dress of hers" _The first time I saw at her in the dress, I was mesmerized and disturbed by the way she could make me feel, but I wasn't afraid of her. At least until Jenks ruined it by mentioning the smell on her hand bag. The stance was the same in mother and daughter.

"_Hmm. Just as long as you remember not to mention that I still have that, she might want it back. Now stop ogling my mother or else I'm going to come down there and remind you that your mine."_

_I shifted in my seat aroused by the thought of just how Ivy would remind me I was hers. But however enjoyable that might be she needed to stay out of these tunnels and I didn't want an audience. "Ok I'll be good I promise. I best focus; the next mole is finally here. Enjoy your time at the pool". _My baby witch had been upset earlier, she wanted to turn into a wolf but the silver restraint stopped her. I had tried to calm her down but in the end Ivy's decision to take tammy to the pool again was the only thing that calmed her down.

By the time I was allowed to go up I was feeling tired. Bis flew off ahead of me, eager to stretch his wings. I reached our bedroom and the moon was beautiful in the sky, shining through the glass doors that led out on to the terrace, the light making Ivy's skin glow as she sat in that large round bed playing with our baby. Tammy was just in her diaper squeaking and giggling while Ivy cuddled her and let the baby's legs wrestle against her long hand. Ivy had a black bathrobe on, looking utterly sexy, the long legs seemed to last forever before the silk fabric covered the middle of her thigh, the black silk against her pale skin was always distracting and amazing. Our baby squeaked once more when she looked at me in the door, the same time Ivy's eyes averted to see me.

"Hi, honey." I smiled to her. I was very conscious that I reeked of strange vampire pheromones and scents from the couches I sat on. I could feel through our bond how she felt about my scent mixed with others and I watched as her nose narrowed a bit, her lips forming a momentary line. She hated my scent mixed with any other than hers. Besides, scenting other vampires on me, that was a trigger to her basic instincts. "I know, love. I will take a shower and remove the smell before kissing you." I offered, walking to the bathroom. Ivy blushed a bit. "Hey, I understand. If I had your olfactory sense and you reeked of other witches scents I wouldn't be pleased either." I smiled to her trying to reassure her. Ivy returned my smile. "Wait for me a bit more, little one." I said to my restless bundle of joy squeaking happily on the bed.

"Do you want to bathe Tammy as well?" Ivy offered. "She would love it. I have the tub already prepared. I was thinking in going in myself with Tammy if you weren't back in a few more minutes." It sounded glorious. I could play with my baby and be near my lover.

"Sure, let me take the odor off and I'll be at the tub, would you join us as well, Miss Tamwood?" I asked of her.

"I thought you would never ask.:."

Erica came to let us know dinner would be around eleven. Tammy fell asleep after the bath as Ivy fed her. Our baby witch was tired from the pool and all the excitement of her day. I took her to the cradle. I couldn't help watching her for a little while, just admiring her innocence. My daughter was a tiny beauty, my heart filled with contentment and joy, I had a baby; this wasn't a dream. Ivy came to my side and passed her arm behind my waist reminding me I didn't just have a daughter – I had a family.

Turning I caressed her baby bump. Morgan kicked. "I think Morgan wants some blood." I felt the hopeful pleading in my mind.

"I shouldn't weaken you now." Ivy's voice was doubtful and she pulled back slightly, eyes staring in to mine with a flicker of worry.

"Just one bite, love, only enough to take the edge off." I said.

"That would be acceptable. Are you sure you can perform after it?"

"Magically or…?" my gaze roamed over her body with a lecherous smile. She was only wearing the black silken robe. I was in another one, matching. Ivy decided to buy two since I was getting theirs. So we had matching

"Dear heart…" Ivy laughed hoarsely producing goose bumps on my skin with the need I felt .

"I think I can do both, babe. After all, you owe me a fantasy if I recall well… " I said caressing her hip with one hand. Ivy took me to bed, I happily let her arm lead me; she liked me to be comfortable when she was taking my blood. I kissed her warmly and softly. Ivy's weight made me sink a bit in to the mattress when she moved both of us until we were lying over the black covers. My sweet vamp straddled my hips with her thighs, her lips moving softly over my jaw going to my neck. I sighed hugging her, letting my hands running on her back and hips. Ivy liked to play a bit before biting. She teased some of my hidden scars, as if she couldn't decide where to break my skin. I heard the joyous giggles of our baby vamp, along with her urgent pleading.

"_She really wants some blood." _Ivy's mental voice reached me. We focused on greeting our baby vamp; she already knew as much baby talk as Tammy. Ivy moved when the kicks bothered her.

"_Are you ok?"_ I used my elbow to support my weight, getting on my side, Ivy wasn't over me anymore, I was used to her vamp speed by now, she sat down next to me.

"_Yes, it's not painful, but she's stronger now, and she likes to move a lot I get a bit uncomfortable in certain positions."_ Ivy was touching the baby bump over her abdomen, I moved as well. I let her lean sideways resting her upper body on mine, her head on my chest as I supported her. My hand moved over her belly gently trying to judge where our daughter was.

"_Calm down, little one… you will have it now." _I cajoled her. Ivy's hand joined mine on her baby bump. The other one took my forearm gently to bring my wrist to her mouth. She kissed my skin before breaking it with her sharp canines. The pain was so momentary I barely registered it. Morgan purred as soon she felt the nourishment coming down her Mom's throat. I could feel Ivy's smile against my torn skin before sucking a bit more, slowly. I leaned on her head and kissed her hair, rubbing my cheek on that ebony silkiness, Ivy purred at the same time Morgan did. She loved our mixed scents.

"_I'm yours, Ivy… I want everybody know I'm yours…" _I told only her, through our mental bond. Her purr turned into a sexy growl. I could feel her contentment, her pride at calling me hers. It was a two way bond. I knew she was as mine as much as I was hers. Her hand squeezed mine, our fingers intertwining. She was absolutely in love with me.

"_Mine."_ Her thought was strong and pure happiness, our auras were all mingled now, I could feel exactly the way she was feeling. By mingling our scents in a house full of vampires, I was stating I was comfortable with my role as her Scion. And I was. I thought many vampire manners were humiliating and probably I was one of the worse Scions ever... because of my inability to keep my mouth shut sometimes. But I was proud of being her Scion. She had chosen me…me! Ivy purred again at my bafflement, I still didn't know how she could be attracted to me… _"I love you, Rachel… it's the whole of you that I love."_

"_I love you, Ivy...the woman you are, the vampire you are..."_ I kissed her hair again. Our minds melted in a hug. Our baby vamp demanded attention with a kick and more purring. She embraced us inside, the same way once Tammy had surprised us. Certainly Morgan was maturing rapidly. She knew her mothers loved each other. Our baby vampire loved us as well, she was happy for us… and she was thirsty. Ivy took another sip from my veins. We both focused on our baby and her happiness.

Suddenly Ivy snarled, freeing my wrist. She adopted an aggressive stance, sitting instantly in a position that would let her jump and attack at the same time. Tension instantly hardened her body. Her arm moved me behind her. I blinked.

There at the open door Natalie and Skimmer their eyes wide as they stared at us. Kimberly seemed a bit embarrassed and she had averted her eyes, staring out at the terrace. Natalie was using a fresh dress in white, and Skimmer a mini dress. The master vampire was merely surprised. But Skimmer's face showed a mix of bafflement and outrage. I almost could her mind screaming in frustration.

Skimmer seemed to shout at me with her eyes more black than blue: _You've broken Ivy!_ I smiled at her innocently. No _I fixed her, you little tramp._

Ivy snarled once more. Her instincts ruling her now, she was compelled to defend her territory. She was about to jump against them, but Tammy was asleep and in the way also.

"There, there, Ivy. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were having an intimate moment. I just wanted to make sure the accommodations were satisfactory." Natalie said. "We will be downstairs. Please join us when you're done." She closed the door.

I hugged my lover's shoulders from behind, gently forcing her to lean on me. Ivy slowly relaxed against my chest. . I covered the wound in my wrist with the palm of my hand whilst I hugged my lover tightly. Ivy grabbed my forearms possessively. Her eyes still half black, but with a growing rim of brown, as she puffed several times, controlling her temper, leashing her vampire instincts

"I'm sorry dear heart…" she caressed the growing purple marks so gently I almost wasn't sure she was touching my skin. There were five marks on my arm each in the shape of one of my vamp's fingers. She had been a bit rough to hide me behind her. A feeling of shame came from her, travelling down our bond to me. I rebelled at it.

"There's nothing to be sorry about my love. I'm so flattered you always want to protect me. I told you, I'm yours, and I was the one teasing your senses, you reacted naturally. I know it and you know it. I've told you, you're a vampire and you never should be ashamed of it. Witches have instincts and needs too." I cajoled her quietly.

"Yes, but not like I do dear heart, your instincts don't take you over. You don't risk the ones you love." She wouldn't meet my eyes, her hair starting to fall forward hiding her. I shifted closer, my fingers cupping her cheek, turning her face upwards to meet mine. I kissed her, pouring every ounce of trust and love I felt for her in to the chaste meeting of lips.

"You never put me at risk; you do what you need to do to keep me safe, normally from my own adrenaline loving ways." She chuckled weakly and I kissed her forehead.

"What if I can't control myself taking blood after Morgan's born?" The words were mumbled so fast I barely understood them. I pulled her closer, leaning her head in the crook of my neck, showing her my trust.

"You won't. No matter what, babe, I know that you – all of you, loves me. Don't worry, love, no matter what problems we face we will be all right. Our baby has to be proud of her race and you are going to teach her, no shames, no regrets…" I murmured into her ear, gently rubbing her baby bump. Morgan kicked softly against my hand, as if she was supporting my words too. Ivy turned her head to lock her gaze on mine. She seemed mesmerized for a moment. But I knew my words were going right to her heart. No matter how much Ivy had advanced in her control, she still thought sometimes she was a monster. She couldn't see her race only as race with special needs, perhaps special but altogether natural needs.

"I love the way your eyes sparkle when you are this close to me." She kissed my lips. I got lost in her touch and the gentle, warm kiss for a while.

Eventually we started to get ready. Ivy had gotten me some clothes which were appropriate and she rifled through them, choosing what I would wear.

In the end we both wore dresses. Hers was a yellow, maternity one even though the baby bump was little. Mine was green and a bit shorter than Ivy's, Ivy liked me in. Although I had other tastes, next time, I was choosing my clothes. We were about to get out the room when Tammy whined, I could feel her pleading, she wanted me. We all get downstairs.

They were in the living room with outside view, comfortably installed on the couches and armchairs. Tammy lay happily in my arms as we sat facing Nathalie. She stared at the little bandage Ivy had put on my wrist, curiosity shining in her eyes.

"I see you have managed to control your blood lust, Ivy. Which is strange, you're pregnant, you shouldn't have any bloodlust." The master vampire commented.

"Well, Natalie. Our baby is not a regular baby. She needs blood every few days to be healthy and content. And I don't have to take more than two or three sips before she is sated." Ivy shrugged her tone disinterested but her shoulders were tense.

"If you need another source of blood, it can be arranged." Natalie offered. "Just in case, unfortunately we need Rachel at the top of her game for a couple of days."

"I'm fine." I said quietly, however, I couldn't entirely contain my frown at the thought Ivy could bite another person. Ivy was mine! I never wanted her to take any blood other than mine.

"The baby asks for blood?" Natalie asked very interested, her surprise not suppressed by her age and power. She was really astonished.

"Yes. It's very odd. And the oddest part is that Ivy only can take Rachel's blood. Any other blood makes her very sick. They think it is because the spell. The baby only can stand her mom's blood." Erica said, she had to contain herself when Kimberly's grip tightened on her leg. Erica sincerely thought she was doing us a favor. Perhaps she was trying to finally kill Skimmer's hopes of getting Ivy back. Kimberly's face said nothing, but she was angry with Erica.

I could feel how Ivy's tension began building up, although her face remained imperturbable. On the other hand Skimmer could barely disguise her frown. My young sister in law still hadn't realized her mistake.

"You cannot take blood from anyone else?" Natalie looked at my vamp inquisitively, assessing the information with utmost interest. Of course, this was valuable information. She could hold me and ensure the permanence of Ivy and our babies. I almost could hear her brain planning. "That's not true, Ivy…you drank elder blood. Your baby was able to sustain the changes, violent changes that elder blood produced inside you and her. It's really astonishing, that could kill your baby, even some vampires cannot take elder blood in the way you did without dying; they cannot endure the quickness of the change. However the baby survived, she is definitely a high blood vampire and she was already very strong before the change." her dark eyes fixed on Ivy's belly once again.

She seemed to ponder the evidence once more. She had elder blood, and our baby was able to consume it inside of Ivy, she wouldn't need me around to keep Ivy and the baby supplied. "In fact, she survived to be the strongest baby vampire I have ever known of…" the streak of greed in her voice was barely noticeable, but it was there; she couldn't hide it, even if she tried. My lover seemed to read her thoughts and I could feel her worry pulsing through our bond.

"Well, I had to take elder blood precisely to save Morgan. Before that, only Rachel's blood didn't make me sick. We think it is an effect of the magic. We don't know if that fact has changed. I haven't tried any other blood since the new strain of virus began to affect me and our baby vampire. However, I don't want to try… I don't want to feel sick again or making my baby feel sick. She's so close to born now." Ivy said seriously, the can of worms was open now. Ivy was scared Natalie might try to kill me, in the hopes of forcing her to stay and take blood only from Natalie. So she was trying to make sure Natalie believed me vital. Besides Natalie wasn't going to be pleased if we retained information she wanted.

"Understandable. Then you think once the baby has been born you could drink blood as before?" Natalie asked, she was way too interested in our babies. Of course the baby vampire was the one most important to her. "However, you actually were fed by an elder, Ivy. I won't ask you who he is… I know you cannot answer without his authorization. You're a Scion, Ivy. I can tell. And you had a very old strain of virus, your fangs are proof."

"We had noticed it, my fangs are slightly longer." Ivy acknowledged the fact noncommittally.

"How's your sight?...And your hearing?" Natalie's sweet voice had an all knowing tone. Yes, she was old. _Yes, she has seen a lot of things in the thousands of years she has been around, bla-bla-bla._ I thought to myself. "Cormel still doesn't know the real trouble he has gotten into and neither do you." Her smile was a bit patronizing. _Oh I hate patronizing people! I have enough with Jenks and Ivy, as much as I love her, she is so obsessive some times and almost too perfect._

"Perhaps that vampire hasn't made a move to claim you yet. But believe me, child… the moment your donor wants, that moment you'll become _his _puppet. You took a lot of his blood; there is no other explanation for the physical changes. I know it wasn't Borgia and as far as I know she is the only female older than me. So, it had to be a male. I bet you didn't tell your sweetheart over there what you had to do to get that blood." Her voice was as sweet as honey and venomous at the same time.

Kimberly exchanged a look with Erica, warning her to keep her mouth shut. Robert seemed most interested in Natalie's opinions, but he kept an unreadable face as did Kimberly. My undead mother in law was aware of the changes Ivy and our baby had sustained. But Natalie's attitude was giving her a clue to the way my blood had changed Piscary's virus. Natalie was recognizing the blood Ivy had taken was at least strong enough to resist hers.

"Ah, you can believe me, I know… I was there." I shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing that I can reproach Ivy for took place." I smiled to my vamp and she entwined her fingers with those of my free hand, I had Tammy in one arm. Of course Natalie was right, the vamp sex was amazing, but Ivy had it with me. They didn't have to know, it was enough that we did.

"You were there?" Skimmer frowned.

"Of course, I had to make sure Ivy and our baby would make it. I know exactly what happened that night." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

"And you're fine with it?" the skepticism in her voice was tangible.

"I'm happy." I smiled to Ivy; she had a mischievous glint in her eyes, that night had been intense, the most intense for us as a couple. It was permanently etched into our memories. I didn't care if the witnesses thought I was a sex toy for another vampire. "I still have both my daughters. We, still have both." I looked at my baby witch in my arm. Tammy yawned. "Are you tired, sweetheart? Go to sleep." The little hands reached for something to grab. Ivy led my hand to our baby and she took our entwined hands on the tiny ones.

"She missed you. She won't let you go in a while." Ivy said quietly.

"Only until she's hungry again…" I chuckled keeping the volume low; we didn't want to disturb our baby.

"You should be nesting. I'm really sorry this had happened." Natalie's demeanor changed into her caring one, I could almost believe her.

"It's not your fault, Natalie. Borgia had planned to take over this country for a while. She has been moving to do it for years. We cannot allow it to happen. Not now that I'm bringing a new vampire to the world. She always takes the younglings, and we're not going to let her do that anymore." Ivy said firmly. "It's difficult enough to grow up being a normal vampire. My baby is not going to be a regular one. She is already too strong. Growing up limited by that fact only to be taken against her will when she is 13 or so… I will never let that happen." My lover frowned. She wasn't only talking about Borgia and all the vampires in the room knew it.

"It seems you are aware of the secrets she has concealed well from others." Natalie's frown matched my vamp's one. "She kills too many younglings with no need, since the beginning of her mastery. Certainly a vampire with the potential your baby possesses even before birth would be a coveted target for her, as your daughter will be coveted for everyone. And I see you already are trying to control the baby witch. I noticed since you arrived; the baby has a silver restraint on since you got here."

"Yes, it's an awful way of treating our baby. But Rachel fears Tammy could hurt herself, if she is not going to be around the entire day. Not even I can calm Tammy as fast as she does. If Tammy reaches a point where she can't control the magic then the consequences for her would be even worse than those for the people around her." Ivy explained

Natalie nodded, as did her twin witches. Magic was a serious matter.

"There's a reason why we all develop our abilities in our teen years. A baby cannot understand the limits. It is really a marvel that she can already tap a line or perform a complicated transformation charm. I know some witches who don't dare to do it even after college. You are restraining her for her own sake, Ivy." Kimberly said firmly.

"It doesn't make it less painful for her, Mom. She really has it in her blood. Today she tried to tap a line and she felt very bad when she couldn't."

"And you feel like a monster, limiting your child in such way." Natalie smiled and shook her head. It was creepy the way she had mastered the appearance of humanity.

"Yes. Everything that hurts her also hurt us." Ivy sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She caressed Tammy's hand with the index finger. Tammy caught it and kicked her way. Ivy smiled knowing exactly what our baby wanted; Tammy loved to push with her legs.

"She really doesn't seem a like a baby who is barely a week old. She's so aware, so strong." Isabella looked at her. Our baby was wearing light clothes, so all of us could really admire the astonishing resemblance she had with her mother, Tammy wasn't as pale, but her skin was very clear. The face was practically the same. I was sure Ivy looked like Tammy when she was a baby. The little white dress was the cutest thing I had ever seen and was very becoming to our baby. Ivy complied with her request and let her hand make a little pressure against the tiny feet in baby shoes matching the dress.

"Yes, she is as mature and strong as a 6 months old baby since she born." Robert smiled.

"She is so playful and so quick. Good reflexes, very chatty as well. Oddly, she didn't feel threatened by me, she accepted me at once, as if she knew I am her family too." Kimberly let it out.

"Tammy knows, mom. Rachel has a very special communication with both our babies, it's kind of telepathic. Rachel let them know about all the members of our family even before birth. Morgan is going to recognize everyone as well." Ivy said.

"That's very interesting." Natalie watched us intently. "So you think you won't need any blood for a couple of days?"

"No, I won't. Morgan just had some, and it's very rare that she asks for more before three or four days. By then Rachel will have finished her job here." Ivy said confidently.

"She is indeed a very special baby." Natalie smiled. "Are you sure the baby vampire is a girl?"

"We are." Ivy nodded, smiling to me.

Heather walked in with a serious face.

"Good night to all. We detected someone trying to trespass. They ran away before the guards could reach the point they tried to breach our defenses. Magic detectors were all red. We suspect a witch or witches." She informed us. "I have doubled the guard at every possible entrance and weaker point in the perimeter."

"_Turn it! Do you think the witches from the Coven are following me?"_ I asked only to Ivy, using our bond.

"_They couldn't be so stupid as to try and break into Natalie's house…"_ She answered me.

"_You met Jillian Rothberg; she's a newbie trying to prove her value and her courage. Certainly she would try… I would do it in her place. I was as stupid as her once."_ I reminded her.

"_At the very least you were afraid of vampires, my dear…"_ she cajoled me. _"Besides, Phyllis has to leash her."_

"_I don't think so…Phyllis wants her to get hurt; only she is waiting for a situation in which she can't be blamed." _I retorted swiftly. I noticed the inquisitive look from Natalie on us, she should be suspecting by now we had a very strong mental communication.

"Maybe it is my fault." I said quietly. No need to be loud in a room full of vampires. "I had a visit from the Coven." I shrugged my shoulders. I could see both twins flinching. Melissa frowned and Isabella sighed. "Perhaps they are trying to spy on me." I ventured, I felt that was the truth, but I couldn't say it for a fact.

"The Coven for Moral and Ethical Standards is always bad news for a witch, Rachel. They have already shunned you. Why did they visit you?" Natalie asked.

"They gave me an audience." I shrugged my shoulders once more. Tammy tried to lick my hand and I trapped her hand in mine. "Be good, little one." I smiled to her.

"An audience?" Melissa snorted. "If you go there, you will be in Alcatraz faster than you can say the word."

"It's a risk I have to take… for her." I still was looking at my baby. Ivy had tensed up. She hated the idea of me being condemned for life. No matter that Claire said she could get me out. Even if she could, I wouldn't be allowed to be myself for a good while. Hiding from the law, always looking over our shoulders wasn't the best way to raise children either. She was afraid of losing me.

Melissa looked at me thoughtfully "I will not pretend I have never done anything the Coven can judge, you already know we summoned a demon less than a week ago, and we made a deal with him. Our family has used demons for selfish purposes more than once. My grandmother lost her soul and her life to Zarthimeatreal. I know you have used demons too and that is something they will not forgive or forget." She said seriously. "You should not go."

"If I don't go, they will hunt me down. I cannot put Ivy and the babies through that danger. They could kill them, Melissa." I faced her. "They can be much worse than black witches. The Coven has resources so far greater than anyone could imagine. They won't do a public carnage, they don't want any bad publicity; but they will harm and even kill everyone that I love in order to get to me in the open. I rather to be locked up in Alcatraz than let anyone being hurt because of me." I stated seriously. I locked my eyes with Ivy's. She didn't like to hear it, but she knew it was the truth. We had to do the best for our babies.

"Yes, you aren't a black witch even if you do use demons… at least not yet." Isabella looked at me with a smile.

"Yes, that is the fear of the Coven, and they aren't too wrong. It's too easy choosing to believe in demon words, I have witnessed myself how white witches slipped into black without noticing it. I know from experience the line separating right from wrong becomes blurrier and blurrier. I was very tempted, I don't deny it. But I have to leave that behind us, for the sake of the babies." I said convinced.

"That is easier said than done, Rachel. Besides, if you go, you will be locked up for the rest of your life in Alcatraz." Isabella said.

"Is Rynn aware of this situation?" Natalie asked faking concern as well. She could look human so easily. However, she was assessing her chances on that too. This time it was my big mouth that was the one giving her ideas. If I was locked up in Alcatraz, then Ivy would want to be near me, and California was her territory, Alcatraz was in California. She could keep Ivy and my babies if she played her cards well. But I wasn't to be locked up for more than a day. I had full confidence in Claire. I knew the old reaper wasn't lying when she said she had escaped from the rock before.

"He knows. But I asked him not to do a thing. It's better if no one interferes." I answered personally, even if the Scion's job was to be quiet and not talk unless someone talked to him/her first.

"Even if he wanted to do something, the timing couldn't be worse… with the war heating up… the truth is he cannot afford attacks from the Coven as well." Natalie frowned pensive. "Benedict called me today…" she commented.

"Benedict? As in Augustus Benedict, the Master vampire from Texas?" Kimberly asked seeming as innocent as a catholic school girl. She was already practicing to look as human as she could too.

"Yes, he asked me about your visit to me. The word has reached the intended targets already." Natalie said with a reflexive tone in her voice. "As Jenny told me first and Skimmer has corroborated later, two of the undead assassins sent by Borgia to kill her and Ivy were from Texas. I think the issue of their disappearance is going to be brought to the conversation when he gets here." She crossed her legs femininely and faced Kimberly. "He asked me if it was true you were here sent by Rynn Cormel in his representation, I said so. Then he wanted to come to the party as well. Maybe we can win him over to our cause." She said. "You will inform Cormel and ask for his position on the matter. Benedict is arriving in few hours, just before dawn." She informed in general.

"I will… thank you for the heads up." Kimberly nodded with a professional demeanor.

"It is going to be very interesting, because we will be able to see if someone in his entourage has been affected by Borgia in the way she had infiltrated our camarillas. If we can clean up at least his entourage, there's a fine chance to draw him our way. He is fairly old, older than DeLavine…" she trailed off getting lost in her thoughts.

"Or we can see if he has already chosen the other party." Kimberly pointed out cautiously.

"That is a possibility. One not desired, but if he has already aligned with Borgia, then it is best to know where his loyalties lie. We must know who our enemies are; the sooner, the better." Natalie said firmly.

"You are absolutely right. I will consult with Rynn if he wants Rachel to clean up Benedict's entourage as well. That could be a wrong move. There are only two days left during which that counter curse can be applied. We could lose him if the benefit cannot be extended to his entire camarilla…" Kimberly said pensively.

"Indeed. Perhaps we only have to inform him of the way to spot the unwilling slaves of her." Natalie said. "Unfortunately, the asset has an expiration date. Is there a way of extending the term, Rachel?"

I looked at Ivy. I couldn't tell I could replicate the counter curse. The whole point was to conceal the fact I could do demon magic.

"No, there's no bargaining chip this time." My lover frowned a bit. "I'm sorry, but having cleaned two entire camarillas is a lot more than anyone could think Rachel would be able to get out of that deal. She was aiming to save Skimmer alone. The risk is too big. There's no way I let her risk herself again with that demon." She said firmly. "I'm sure most camarillas have at least a couple of moles by now. Borgia has been preparing her moves for years. However, any action they take, they have to make it for themselves."

"I know you don't want her risking anymore, Ivy. I know she doesn't want to risk her soul again. I understand. In which case, the best thing is to only let him knowing the way of discover the moles. And not mentioning the counter curse at all." Natalie decided. She wasn't very pleased though. "He wants a private dinner tomorrow night. He wants to meet you. He didn't mention you specifically, but I can tell." The master vampire smiled snidely. "Don't worry, I made arrangements to have the dinner at the southern terrace, the view is astonishing and the gardens below it are the most beautiful for hundreds of miles. That way there will not be any concentrations of pheromones to upset you, Ivy."

"Thank you, Natalie. It's very thoughtful of you." My lover nodded.

So, we had another player entering the game. Ivy was worried, I could feel it. Strongly from her because our bond. But I could feel also the concern in Natalie and Kimberly. The shame in Erica realizing at last she had given valuable and dangerous information to Natalie. On top of that, Ivy was really tense because the Coven and the probability I was going to be locked up for life in the witches' most impenetrable jail.

The next day was going to be a long day. I had a bad feeling about it.


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm adding some characters of my own.

First of all, I know I suck. I had the longest writer's block of my life. I tried to start several times and the typed words I just hated them… I'm very sorry for the long wait. I said that I would finish this and I will, no matter how long it takes me. To be honest I'm not satisfied with this chapter, but I need to go on, so I'm very sorry for the long wait and I will try to update at least monthly until I finish this one. I needed to separate several plotlines and explain them, so, there's not much action in this one and maybe it's not as long as my chaps use to be, but I did my best. Hopefully once I get on track I won't get lost again.

They still are in California, and I'm setting the entire Coven issues before Morgan can come to the scene. I hope we reach soon the point when we can meet the baby vamp as well.

Thank you to all the people still reading my rambles. Gratitude to all the ones reviewing; you keep me going, guys.

Natasha, I want to thank you again for your time, efforts and advices as priceless as ever. Any flaw left is entirely on me.

CHAPTER 30

When we returned to our room, our little witch was hungry, she was baby talking in a demanding and whiney tone, one of her hands clutched on Ivy's breast, despite her tiredness, she needed to eat. I watched as Ivy gently cradled Tammy in her arms and fed her. Tammy was one of the biggest sources of joy in Ivy's life and normally feeding her would fill Ivy with contentment. But today, my lover seemed troubled. I could understand her of course; it would be foolish to not be concerned with the situation.

My Ivy was so tense. She was worried about Natalie's possible plays to get control of her and our babies. She was beyond concerned about my imminent trial at the Coven for moral and Ethical Standards' Headquarters. There was also the possible coming of war amongst vampires which we found ourselves in the middle of. No wonder she was as tense as a violin cord; above all those issues she just had a surgery few days ago. Although I had healed her physical wounds, the changes her body was still undergoing due to the modified Piscary's virus that I pumped into her system to save our unborn baby vampire were stressing her as well.

Once Ivy had fed our baby witch, I gave her the mandatory tea bottle, but Tammy was so exhausted with the flight and her first experiences in the pool that she only drank half of it before dozing off. Ivy changed her diaper and placed her in the fine wooden cradle, while I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth thoughtfully.

I was worried too, so much tension wasn't good for Ivy. My lover was pregnant; it wasn't good for our baby vamp inside her either. What could I do to relax her?

The idea came easily. All night I had been forced to put up with watching greedy and lustful eyes run over my life partner. I already knew before that my Ivy was a coveted vampire. But seeing with my own eyes the way other vampires regarded her… That was a trial for my hot head. Natalie wanted Ivy, in more than carnal way. To Natalie Ivy was as much a trophy as a beautiful lover as the mother of the vampire who could project a hunting aura still inside the womb. Natalie lusted for beauty and power, and Ivy had both.

Dorothy 'Skimmer' Claymor wanted my lover, she still was hurt and confused, now she didn't want to bed her, because she was vain and Ivy was pregnant. But I could tell Skimmer still wished to be Ivy's partner in life, her eyes had lingered on my vamp for far too long.

Then there were the others who merely lusted after my Ivy, several members of Natalie's vampire entourage and almost all the humans in the service had sexual feelings looking at Ivy and Kimberly. All of them never passed a chance to ogle them and lust for them. All of them wanted My Ivy for their own reasons.

It was hard to remember that Ivy had chosen me to be her partner, her lover and her beloved when she could have had any one she wanted. I knew Ivy loved me, but I couldn't stop my jealousy. _What to do?_ I asked myself giving a glance through the panoramic door to the terrace when I left the bathroom. Ivy went to brush her teeth as well.

Staring out into the night I could see the immaculate grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight. The moon reminded me of the fairy tales. A mischievous grin parted my lips. That would be a good option to release some of Ivy's tension. I reached for the ley line and Ivy glanced at me, alerted, peaking her head out of the bathroom. I made a dampening spell, around Tammy's cradle and around the perimeter of the room after putting the baby intercom inside the cradle and the receiver on the closest nightstand to the bed.

"_What is it, dear heart?" _ Her voice came to my mind instantly alerted by my spelling.

"Precautionary measures, babe…" my eyes roamed her figure head to toes lecherously. Ivy had put a loose lacy and soft short nightgown in red, barely reaching above the middle of her thighs with spaghetti strings to the shoulders. California was a lot warmer than Cinci, and the cottage had an excellent temperature. "I don't want to wake Tammy up if we get a bit loud."I smiled at her. "I believe you owe me a little fantasy. I've been a good girl and I behaved all day long…" My eyes this time raked all of her body shamelessly in front of her.

The pupils on my lover widened in a split second, her eyes becoming all black; I fought a Cheshire's cat smile knowing her hormones were on my side. I knew Ivy also needed sex regularly. We had been apart all day long, and Natalie shorting our intimate moment sharing blood by appearing without warning had her wanting reassurance about me.

It took almost nothing to convince her to play the role for me. What could I say? My imagination always falls short when it came to Ivy's sexual prowess… My lover always gave me much more than I could try to imagine beforehand. The novelty of newlyweds hadn't faded yet in our relationship. Even though we had known each other for years, it wasn't until 3 months ago that we shared a bed for the first time in a sexual way. My Ivy made me go to heaven and I dragged her with me for the ride. She was very relaxed when we cuddled naked under the black satin sheets a couple of hours later.

_Mission accomplished_. Both of us were tired but pleased. I wanted all of those tramps to know: I was Ivy's lover. Ivy Tamwood was mine to love, touch and fuck. I wanted all of them to smell our mixed scents and lovemaking all over the other. We were one, Indivisible unit. I was hers and she was mine. Period. _I'm a possessive witch. _I grinned to myself. Somehow I knew I could never get tired of this closeness and this feeling of wholeness I had for the first time when I woke up with her by my side.

We moved lazily against each other looking for that comforting position for sleeping.

"I love you, babe." I mumbled against her spine, just under the nap of her neck, whilst scenting her hair.

"As I love you, dear heart." She breathed a sigh against the palm of my hand before placing it over her breast laxly. I was spooning her as normal; it was warm, comfy and familiar.

I fell asleep without noticing it, until the weird dream started. I felt like someone was dragging me out of bed despite my clear reluctance to leave my warm place against Ivy's bare skin. I opened my eyes when the yanking became violent. The strong pull made me fly out of bed and I could see Tammy tossing and kicking in the cradle. It was like I was awake, but I wasn't at the same time. My body was spooning Ivy's at the bed. My own reaper side was the thing yanking me away from her, demon magic… demon magic had triggered my unconscious part, my wild part. I closed my eyes but that didn't help, it was like had no eyelids. I still could see everything around me while floating above the bed and cradle.

"_Stay calm, stupid witch"_ I told myself. Focusing was a bit hard. I let my reaper side to guide me. _Well, if this little nightmare doesn't end quickly, maybe Ivy can wake me up._ I decided. Then everything became surreal, I felt a strong pull and I fell into the lines, traveling until I landed on a dark room, dizzy and wanting to puke, my stomach rolling and heaving but I didn't seem able to actually vomit.

The stench in the air was almost unbearable and it seemed to creep through my pores- not that I had any, I could see myself very pale and translucent, but I had no body. My body was in bed with my Ivy that much I had deduced by now. Strangely, I still could smell- and that stench stressed my very essence, my core: Burnt amber and demon, I could recognized those smells anywhere, plus I knew this concentration of them could only be found in the ever after, underground in the ever after, where the demons live. So I was in a demon's liar, home or whatever. I looked around hoping to find some clue as to why I was here.

The stone room was filled with wooden shelves; which were littered with flasks and all kind of looked like I was in the magical ingredients' storage room of a demon. The shelves were so full some of them were bending under the weight, I really hoped they were stronger than they appeared to be. I did not want to end up covered in random potions.

I could hear some gibberish around me, first it was a soft whisper, but the murmur became louder and louder. I wished I could cover my ears when the noise reached the thunderous volume of a storm. Sadly, my hands were of as much use as my eyelids now and the noise didn't even get muffled in the slightest when I tried. I was experiencing the thunderous mix of shouting and crying with all my spiritual being. Until I found a way of tuning it off, it was an effort of will. The same with the stench, I just had to tune it off, I was aware of both, smells and noise, but they no longer overwhelm my capacity of focusing on other things. It was like having an intensity sense regulator integrated; as long as I wanted I could ignore the things while remaining alert for any possible danger.

Then I was able to explore the room; I felt like if something was calling me, my attention was drawn towards one of the vessels at the very far end of the room, there were like half a dozen and all of them were glistening with smut, but one in particular held my attention. It was a little odd I could see with such clarity in that poor illumination. I reached for the vessel, my spirit hand grazed the surprisingly warm glass then I was falling, my balance lost when my ghostly hand passed through not only that container but all of them on that rack, my chest and stomach didn't disturb the order when I fell through the shelf, of course I had no body now . At that moment electricity ran trough me, I felt a new strong pull towards the ley line and I woke up with a gasp, with my ribs throbbing strongly.

My eyes went wide open and I could focus on Ivy's face. She was hovering above me, her teeth anxiously biting her bottom lip and her hand was shaking me by the shoulder.

"Rachel, are you alright?" her voice low and worried. Her hand began to soothingly rub my shoulder stopping the shake ups at once. Her naked body was comfortingly warm against my bare skin and I leaned into her, passing my arm behind her waist. I could feel her fear and her concern through our bond. _"You were barely breathing, and your heartbeat became very slow."_ She let me know inside my head. Her anguish was still increasing; she was fearing I was sick, or cursed, or something of the variety of things that regularly happened to me. After all, we were in the house of an ally that could become an enemy at any second. Ivy didn't trust Natalie in the slightest.

I kicked myself in my mind. I just had relaxed her a bit and now Ivy was already all tensed up again!

"_Rachel!"_ she hurried me in my mind again, with a hint of worry, when I drifted for too long.

"I'm fine, honey… It was just a nightmare." I said with my voice hoarse from sleep. "What time is it?"

"About 5 am, we haven't even had an entire hour sleeping… Tammy is restless too…" Her eyes moved to see the elegant cradle next to her side of the bed. Our baby witch was asleep, but she was moving; as we watched, she tossed away her blanket, her legs kicking. Ivy went to tuck her in once more. My sweet vamp hummed a lullaby while she tapped our little one´s legs gently. Ivy didn't bother putting on a robe as Tammy got into a comfy zone and continued sleeping peacefully, without waking up.

As nice as the image was, I couldn't focus on my beautiful partner's nudity or on her genuine love and care towards Tammy for long. I felt a strange connection. It was a bit like the one I had felt with Skimmer's blood, only stronger, almost overwhelming. I looked outside by the glass doors of the terrace. The room in my dream was awfully like the one in which Al kept his ingredients and his… SOULS!

_Turn it. The vessels were souls' containers. What just happened? The gibberish I heard was the souls' voices mixed together as they tried to talk over each other. Why now? The only change from yesterday is… Augustus Benedict must be arriving. One of his people has to be as affected as Skimmer was, maybe worse, because Skimmer still had her soul while the soul of this poor victim was already in the ever after. That must be the reason I felt this… my reaper side is warning me._ I was lost in my musing, with my gaze fixed on nothing in particular.

"_Dear heart?" _Ivy's mental voice called me while she was getting inside the silky covers once more. Her hand took me gently by the chin to make me look her in the eyes.

"_I'm sorry, Ivy. It wasn't a dream. I think I went on a spiritual ride to the ever after."_ I moved sleepily to hug her and she put her head on my shoulder. The weight of her against my bare skin was reassuring and I tought again how lucky I was to have her.

"_Why do you think that?"_ Ivy asked while rearranging the sheets over us. I relived the experience for her, sharing the sensations. Her arms wrapped me tightly for a moment, she didn't like it, but now she filed the info in her head, in case it happened again in the future.

I explained to her my conclusions _"… If that's it; then Z was the owner of that soul too, you know that as Z's mistress I inherited all his debts and assets, so those are mine now._" I finished still a bit astonished that we were this comfortable using our mental bond. It was really a very good and very cool thing. Ivy and I reached an agreement on not giving our possible spies an easy ride. We didn´t talk aloud of anything they could find interesting.

"_That's not good. But maybe it could drive Benedict to ally with us against Borgia."_ Ivy let me know_. "Now try to get some sleep. Today you have to start earlier."_ She kissed my neck and I kissed her ear.

"Good night, honey. Good night, little one." I caressed her baby bump as she was finding a way to sleep comfortably partially on top of me, her arms still around me.

"Good night, dear." Ivy hid her face against my chest. She liked to hear my heartbeat, the comfort and knowledge that I was safe soothing her to sleep. For the time being she could sleep partially over me, because Morgan was still little. One of my lover's legs passed over mine. My hand moved by itself to caress her thigh soothingly. Ivy was so very precious to me and I never wanted to lose her. But I still needed to figure out how to save her soul. We needed some peace and quiet for that and it didn't look like we would be getting it anytime soon.

I thought again of the room I had visited. I knew very well that trapped souls long for escape, if only saving Ivy's soul was that easy… No she needed to have contact with her soul… in order to have feelings. A vessel wasn't the best way. As far as I could feel, that smut covering the vessel could be used as temporary connection to the body, but that would turn the soul slowly insane, longing for freedom or for a body to feed from. Plus the connection was too weak; it had to be only an echo of feelings. No. I had to find another way of saving Ivy's soul.

* * *

The next day I was dragged into the underground room even earlier to continue applying the counter curse on the moles Natalie had. The first day I'd had to treat twenty, now I had another thirteen. Melissa let me know only a dozen were left to check, they hadn't arrived yet from the places Natalie had sent them. I forced myself not to think about the strange dream and focus on what I had to do now... Borgia had been a very busy Big Bad Vamp.

Kimberly Tamwood sat regally on the same armchair she had used the previous day, reading another thick tome from Natalie's library. My eyes couldn't help but wander over her, even just reading a book she looked just as sexy as her daughter. My dad always used to say, if you wanted to know what a woman will look like when she was older, then you should look at her mom. And judging by Kimberly, my Ivy was always going to be gorgeous. Shaking my head to try and get rid of the thoughts, I got to work using the counter curse.

As I finished with the last mole of the day, Natalie swept into the room unexpectedly. She was wearing an astonishingly sensual business suit. The skirt was short, a bit above her knees and the cleavage on the silky black blouse very low. The material clung by her body deliciously. The short jacket was open, helping to display some very well chosen jewelry that probably cost more than Ivy's bike. Five inch dazzling heels completed the outfit and I knew as soon as my lover saw those shoes she was going to want her own pair. My mother in law stood and inclined her head respectfully. I had to follow her lead.

"Hello, Natalie. Is something wrong?" Kimberly asked politely.

"Follow me, you too Rachel…" We obeyed, although I sensed the well hidden concern in Kimberly as we walked behind the master vampire, whom was moving with no hesitation through the maze of corridors that looked the same to me in every sense, the gray stone walls seemed to have no flaws or distinguishing feature, and every door was the same dark wood and iron handle. Clearly the décor was one of the defenses of this place making it more difficult for an enemy to find their way around. After about 10 minutes of a rapid pace walking, we entered into a corridor where two living vampires were guarding a door. And plenty more guards were distributed along it. There was a second door just a few meters ahead and to the side with no one watching it.

"You will enter this door as soon we enter the next one, Rachel." Natalie instructed me, indicating the guarded/unguarded doors. Kimberly managed to successfully contain her discomfort but if you knew her well you could spot it in the slight tenseness of her shoulders. She had promised Ivy that she would look after me and it was clear she didn't want to disappoint her daughter.

I sent an empathetic probe out, and I felt the room before us. Fear was the first that came to me, closely followed by anger and shame. I knew these auras and feelings. I nodded to my mother in law letting her know I would be ok. Then Kimberly followed Natalie. Once they closed the unguarded door. One of the male living vampires opened the other door for me.

Inside was a kind of cell. A plain wooden table was at the center, two iron planks attached to the wall opposite to the door. Phyllis McEnroe was on her feet, besides the table, waiting for the unexpected. Jillian was sat on one of the hard beds. Both were wearing a silver restraint on one wrist. I felt a prang of sympathy, I knew how annoying those things could be. Any witch that was used to ley line magic would feel utterly defenseless and distressed at being cut off from the source of their power_. Been there, done that._ Their clothes were a bit disheveled and Jillian had a black eye, swollen lips and a nasty gash in her forearm. Phyllis had an area in the chin deep purple color… I assumed she had been knocked out. Clearly they had not given up peacefully.

Both witches frowned at me. I sighed. _I swear I feel a headache starting._

"What in the Turn are you doing here?" I asked first.

"What are you doing here, Miss Morgan?" Phyllis replied coldly.

"I'm Ivy's Scion. She was invited to Natalie's Solstice party. It's my duty as Scion to be at her side during the social events she attends." I shrugged my shoulders.

"You mean behind her…" Phyllis crossed her arms. I sighed again, restraining my temper from rising.

"Why are you spying on me?" I questioned her. "I have already agreed to attend the Audience your bosses gave me; this is clearly harassment and I would have a legal case if your bosses hadn't shunned me." I reminded her calmly, my voice sounding almost cold.

"But they have shunned you. We have to make sure you're not engaging in the black arts…" Phyllis said nonchalantly, deciding to ignore my remark. "What are you doing here, Miss Morgan, as in this room?"

"I think I was set up… They told me to come here. Surely this place has more bugs than a cricket farm…" I chuckled. "It is no secret to Natalie that I have been summoned by the Coven. And if you were using your Mobius stripes…" I shrugged my shoulders.

Phyllis frowned; she knew I wasn't as easy a target as she thought in the beginning. I wouldn't fall for her provocations. Besides, she was feeling rather embarrassed by the situation although she hid it well.

"I figured that much. So… what should we expect?"

"I have no idea. This is Natalie's dominion, her place, her rules. She is the one calling the shots in here. Nobody does a thing before she approves it… it's the same in all camarillas. If we were in Cinci, maybe I could do something; try to speak to Ivy's master through her… But in here, we're mere guests." I said concerned. "Certainly no Master vampire appreciates anyone that tries to break into their places. Natalie has security I only have seen in Trent Kalamack's property. There's no possible way of breaking in without being caught by one security system or another." I took a chair from the table to seat down.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Jillian Rothberg was scowling at me, big surprise, eh? She didn't like me. Maybe once she was older she would learn to play it cool and emotionless like Phyllis. I could see a lot of myself in Jillian and I had managed to calm down a bit with the years and the bad experiences I had to learn from.

"Does anybody know you were coming here?" I asked.

"Of course." Phyllis' answer was full of confidence; however, I could feel her real anguish behind the cool mask. She was rightfully afraid that they would never get out, or worst, became a vampire treat. Maybe spend the rest of their lives begging to be bedded and bled.

"That's good. If your superiors know you're here, then they can claim both of you. I hope they do it fast." I said "The only thing I can do is call your superior, so he or she can make the claim to Natalie." I met Phyllis gaze again, speaking politely. "If your boss is expecting a report, it could be a while until they realize you were… caught." I wasn't sure of what word to use. But clearly they didn't like my choice as that gained me two frowns, I could laugh but it wasn't amusing, their situation was at best delicate.

"You were caught!" I raised my hands in a placating gesture. "I know it sucks dirty dishwater, I've been there too… I'm a runner and I had some bad experiences as well. At least you are still you, I was a minx." I chuckled. "I spent days in a little cage, eating carrots and being bullied by a prick whom liked to shake the cage with me inside, and chase me with a sharp pencil through the bars of the cage, it was really humiliating and don't get me started with the rat fights!" I chuckled some more.

Phyllis gave me a curious look and then she laughed too.

"A minx?"

"I was aiming to be a mouse, but Ivy's owls fed from hunting and one of them had eaten a minx, I didn't know until I used the potion. Fortunately, it was for turning into rodents in general." I nodded. "I took the supposedly mouse hair from one of the owl's …" I trailed off scrunching my nose.

"Yes, yes… I mean, it's disgusting sometimes, but it's better from there, then catching a mouse, I don't like mice either…maybe we should've turned into mice to get in here." Phyllis at last decided to reply, interrupting my babbling. Well it wasn'treally babbling or saying too much, I was trying to distract them and get something in return.

"Ah, it wouldn't work either, believe me, in here not even one mouse acting weirdly would be overlooked. Natalie has invested a lot in all kinds of security; you would alert the whole magic detection system, as you certainly did when they caught you. Especially you, you always are loaded with all kind of charms. But it is fun to try… although transformation is painful." I chatted away.

"I know… I rather to use potions myself too." Phyllis studied me slowly.

"Ah yes. Who wants to risk losing a charm inside a thin wall or a little hole?" I nodded energetically.

"There are better and quicker ways to die." The green eyes glistened a bit. "You aren't a common runner, are you?"

"I used to think I was… but people kept telling me otherwise." I shrugged my shoulders again. "You know? I was as driven as she is to prove myself when I started." I nodded in Jillian's direction.

"Ivy gave me a chance; she was the one in charge of me when I was a rookie, my partner and mentor for my first year in the I.S. I know you are experienced, I know you think she can't learn. But she can. It's just you need to be a little more supportive. You'll be surprised how good she could be if you give her a chance." I let out tentatively. I could feel the scornful scowl from the younger witch. If looks could kill, I would be a corpse right now. "I know it wasn't your idea to try and break into this place." I noticed then that Jillian Rothberg was sitting with her legs crossed, plus she was blushing since I entered the room. An unsettling thought came to my mind, studying by the corner of my eye the posture and the attitude of the blonde witch.

"It wasn't. But Jillian didn't listen to me. I had to come after her, before she got herself killed." Phyllis didn't bother masking her anger this time, shooting a glare at the blonde.

"Or bitten." I mentioned carefully, Jillian had the same symptoms I suffered when my bites weren't claimed. "Have either of you been bitten?"

"I haven't… Jillian?"She turned to look at the newbie.

"No!" she almost spat at me. "What are you doing? Why are you giving her any information?" She barked angrily at her senior officer.

I looked at her, really looked at her; her emotions had risen, mainly anger and shame, they were almost overwhelming inside her. I knew she had been bitten. I just knew.

"Because I'm possibly the only ally you can have in here, Miss Rothberg. I'm sorry you were bitten. You're already compromised, you are no longer effective as a field agent." I stated with genuine compassion.

"What?" Phyllis looked at her. "Did they bite you? When? I didn't see…" she worried at once. "Although I was almost unconscious for a couple of minutes…"

"Let me check on you." I switched to my second sight with a terrible hunch. I clenched my jaws. Under her left breast the bite was clear, the smut highlighting it. Phyllis seemed a little confused as to why I was using my second sight, so she used it too. At the sight of the smut I knew who did it, whilst shame and anger rose even more inside the Coven agent.

Borgia bit her, did this mean the curse worked on other species too? I felt a shiver at the unsettling thought. It was a demon curse, maybe it worked on every race. Juveuos had called it a spying curse. Obviously it had to work on elves, why not on witches? That thought made me frown.

My frown deepened as I spotted something else with my second sight. There was a faded, very faded smut lingering on the thin air. I had to focus to note that it wasn't general, it was forming an irregular, tenuous line hovering in the air, but I didn't get chance to work out what was going on as I got distracted by the two witches.

"What is that smut?" Phyllis asked almost nauseated but she still went towards Jillian, rather than treating her as someone too dirty to touch. "Let me see." her voice was like steel but her eyes were gentle. The younger witch didn't make it easy for her mentor, punching and kicking. There was a reason though that Phyllis was in charge and I watched in appreciation as she took the young witch down, all the while being careful not to hurt her charge. It ended up with Jillian lying on the iron plank with Phyllis over her, straddling in her middle. Phyllis had managed to trap and immobilize Jillian's arms, using her strong thighs to clamp Jillian's arms to her sides. It was a good job. Phyllis was wearing jeans as Jillian was still trying to twist her fingers and dig them into her thighs.

Slowly, Phyllis unbuttoned Jillian's blouse, her face as stoic as ever she lifted the bra out of the way exposing a clearly identifiable bite mark on the underside of Jillian's breast. The wound was neat, just clean punctures with almost no tearing at all. Phyllis's fingers ran over the mark, gently pushing the punctures clearly trying to judge how healed the wounds were.

Phyllis tore her gaze away from the bite, her eyes locking Jillian's as she demanded answers. "What in the name of Wiccan is this? When did they bite you?"

"Nobody bit me!" Jillian was bucking and squirming trying to get Phyllis off of her.

"This bite looks like at least two days old…It's almost healed…" Phyllis said, her hands took hold of Jillian's face forcing her head to stay still and look at her. "I know that you're afraid that they'll force you into a desk job. However you are compromised. If this bite is unclaimed then any vampire can affect you. Why didn't you tell me? When I agreed to train you, I told you I could only protect you if you trusted me. Why did you run into a place plagued with vampires if you were… I knew you were rash, but to hide this from me." Phyllis shook her head and let Jillian free, showing some pity at last. The seasoned witch looked older and there was a whiff of defeat about her.

Jillian rearranged her clothes with a sob, her hands shaking as she tried to button up her blouse. I felt my heart lurch a little, watching this was like peering into a window of what could have been. Thank the turn for Ivy.

"I don't know. I noticed the pain this morning when I woke up, but no one bit me. I swear! I'm just so confused and I didn't know what to say to you."

"What does this means?" The older agent was now pissed off and taking it out on me.

"She wasn't bitten here…"I said quietly. "Have you been experiencing black outs, Miss Rothberg? Maybe some strange dreams?" I asked concerned.

"I don't know how I came to be here." She paused, taking a deep breath. "I don't remember anyone biting me."

"It must have been at least 3 days ago, maybe more…" Phyllis shook her head, her eyes were slightly too wide and it was clear she was shocked.

"It could be just yesterday or last night if she only felt the pain today." I sighed. "Did you go to a club or a store, or… something when you weren't with Miss McEnroe?" The girl blushed terribly in response to my question.

"Why are you asking that? What do you know?" suspicion laced Phyllis's voice. I sighed and my fingers rubbed the bridge of my nose I could feel a headache coming on.

"I need to know when she was bitten. Please?" I locked my eyes on hers, watching as she seemed to consider the question.

"Yesterday Jillian went to town for something to eat while I was outside waiting for you to come out. She didn't leave our room in Cincinnati. And we came straight here after reporting to our superior. The only time she has been alone and away from me in the last week was yesterday night." Phyllis said frowning, she knew I was right and the bite only could take place in that lapse of time.

I nodded and sat down again in the same chair at the table, that smut lingering in the air was bothering me. I hadn't used my second sight much here in California, even when I was cleaning up the moles. I knew the curse would be lifted as Juveuos told me. No need to use my second sight, I didn't like to see underground around me, made me feel claustrophobic, so I hadn't noticed it until almost imperceptible smut meant demon magic, black magic, or something else was cooking in California. I knew Phyllis didn't see the very faded smut, it was like the echo of an oil slick lingering through the air. I could only see it due to my reaper enhanced second sight. I studied the haze yes, it was demon magic, no doubt. I didn't have time for dealing with whatever it was I would have to leave it alone for now. Although my reaper instincts stirred restlessly, I had to finish up with these two quickly and go to Ivy to tell her. Ivy might understand what was going on, she was better at seeing the big picture.

"_I'm listening, dear heart. Did you call?"_ her mental voice whispered through my mind. I should have to know she was aware of me the entire time. I fought successfully a relieved smile, feeling her presence always made me feel better and safe.

"That bite seems practically healed, it can't be just a few hours old!" Phyllis said, squeezing her eyes, trying to make sense of everything.

"It is…" I sighed, my eyes got lost in the table. "_Why?"_ I asked Ivy rhetorically. Having two separated conversations at one time was becoming a second nature for both Ivy and me. I could hear her cajoling our baby witch and chastising Erica for upsetting Tammy.

"It can't be unless…" Phyllis shook her head and sank into the chair in front of mine. I nodded.

"Unless what?" Jillian flute-like voice sounded almost hysterical.

"Please!" the older witch rolled her eyes on her. "It means the vampire who bit you is a very old undead . Any undead can bespell people, which explains how you don't remember being bitten; but the rate of healing means it was a very old undead. The older the vampire the greater the healing properties contained in their saliva. A little bite like that would be healed in less than a day. But the elder the undead is, the stronger their neurotoxins are as well. Have you had any strange dreams?"

"_That's a good question, but we already know only Borgia leaves the smut in the victims."_ Ivy opined inside my head.

"A nightmare…" Jillian voice quivered.

"What did you see in that nightmare?" I questioned carefully in a soft, and I hoped reassuring voice.

"A snow covered forest, a heavy storm falling, red hair flitting through the trees, pain…Then blood, a lot of blood. I woke up when a ley line energy ball hit me." she shuddered. Ivy told me that sometimes when elders bit a person they could form a kind of psychic connection to them, and sometimes that connection can lead to exchange of information. That nightmare could be a memory from Borgia's life. I knew Borgia died her first death due to a witch, and this could be the way she became undead. Interesting… so the witch killing her could well being a redhead like me.

"I don't think you are still bound to her or at least the link is very weak. She didn't claim you. Otherwise you wouldn't be reacting to other vampire's pheromones." I commented.

"She?" Jillian was clearly appalled, outrage mixed with her terror was flowing from her.

"Yes, a woman. I could be mean and make a lot of remarks on your homophobia right now. A woman bit you on the breast. I know you're very uneasy right now. That gave you away. You're aroused… not because the danger. It's the pheromones; this place is filled with all kind of pheromones, from a lot different vampires. The bite wasn't claimed and so right now you're totally at the mercy of any vampire. As soon they use pheromones on you, you are neutralized. You will be begging to be bitten." I said concerned "I know, it's utterly paralyzing and difficult even trying to resist." I frowned a bit. "Why? Why she bite you? What time did you try to enter Natalie's estate?"

"Is this important?" Phyllis asked me. I shrugged my shoulders. She knew I could get the answer from my hostess. "Around 5:00 this morning." She gave up.

I close my eyes with a sigh. The same time Augustus Benedict entered the place and I was having an extra corporeal experience.

"_Why? As a diversion, maybe? They could blame the magical disturbance on the witches; they could oversee Benedict and his entourage."_ Ivy assessed almost instantly.

"_And what's with the smut hovering in the air? What's that from?"_ I said to her. Seeming lost in my thoughts.

"So, who is your suspect? The vampire that bit Jillian…Is it Natalie?" Phyllis asked me sternly.

"No, Natalie was being the perfect hostess to us since early until almost two in the morning. She couldn't, not even elder vampires can be in two places at once. I'm very sorry, Phyllis, you should never have tailed me. The Vampires are at war, it's not a quarrel; it's war and I'm afraid Jillian has been a casualty of the war. She saw a way of distracting all of us, and she seized it. So, she's been watching us as well." I sighed looking at the table with a frown. "She had to know you were following me, and she knew you tried to break in yesterday around 10pm, you triggered the alarms, but you went away. So, I'm assuming she bite her in between 11pm and 4am, since you were caught around 5am." I muse aloud. "Damn! She's here in California!" my head jerked up with alarm.

"_Dear heart, sometimes you're really slow!" _Ivy chuckled inside my head_ "I'm heading back inside the cottage with Tammy. I don't think Borgia would use snipers, but better safe than sorry when it comes to our babies. _"

"_Please take care, I will be there as soon they release me."_

"Who?" Phyllis insisted.

"I don't know if I should tell you, it's not your war, Phyllis." I said to her flatly.

"She's involved me by incapacitating my trainee. Just tell me." She ordered.

"What for? Are you going to try and even the score?" I switched my second sight off, that smut was disturbingly annoying and it wasn't going anywhere. ."No, I won't help you get yourself killed. She would kill you without any remorse; she had killed hundreds of witches if not thousands. She has singled-handedly killed more of our kind than the Rosewood syndrome." I frowned locking my eyes sternly on hers.

"Borgia? Francesca Borgia?" Jillian asked interrupting the staring match between Phyllis and I.

"So, the coven is aware of her power plays?" I managed to control my surprise, a smile tugged at my lips as I watched Phyllis giving her trainee the most dreadful glare she could muster. My voice sounded detached. "Then, you know who your target is, Phyllis. She tried to kill Ivy and myself not a week ago. Good luck, but I know better, if you go against her, a demon will have your soul in no time. She uses the souls from the witches she captures and murders to pay the demons." I said emotionless.

"No Coven has ever been able to stop her. She never fights fairly. It's up to you. And you, Miss Rothberg, please stay away from vampires unless you find one trustworthy that is willing to claim that bite; without that, you're doomed. It would be such a waste to lose everything you could do if you end up as a vamp candy." I stood up talking sternly and coldly. "If you give me the number of your superior to call I will try and contact them. But I should tell you, if Natalie forbids me to make the call, I have to comply."

"No need, Rachel. I'll call them myself." Natalie opened the door. "Just after they tell me everything they know about Borgia's moves." She locked her half blackened eyes on Phyllis. Natalie sauntered inside the cell. Jillian was about to say something and a blast of pheromones sent her crashing down onto the iron plank again, her knees turned into jelly, as she moaned in wild arousal.

My stomach clenched and I was about to make a very insulting gesture but the pheromones triggered my gag reflex. And I was suddenly too busy try not to vomit. I faced the wall behind the table trying to control myself. I gasped when I came across a carving I hadn't noticed. It was a white rectangular brick; on it were faint carvings in some ancient tongue. The carvings seemed to trigger something inside my mind, the words almost seeming to glow and crawl across my vision. The rest of the wall was made of regular bricks and plaster. This, this was old… much older than Natalie. My hand lurched forward by its self to touch it, to caress it, the brick was hot, impossibly hot for this place. My eyes locked on the brick.

"I see you found my relic, Rachel." Natalie said. "It was brought to me as a present when I was in Persia."

"How… well placed it is." I stated, while my reaper-self governed my consciousness. "Beware all the liars, this is the place of truth, the place of judgment; if you're innocent, then you shall not fear the teeth and fangs, the claws and the deadly breath. Let the fire burn you. Let the air free you, let the water cleanse your soul, let the earth take your ashes on its infinite loins, because I will carry all the righteousness to the end of times. The righteous heart has nothing to fear, the liar and the treacherous will perish. So remain true and I'll carry you to the end of times." I read the old carvings as if they were as clear as English.

"I didn't know you could read Sumerian, Rachel." admiration and bafflement laced Natalie's voice.

"It's not Sumerian. It's older…" I shook my head. "This was removed from a court." My voice was emotionless. Something very different was happening inside me. My inner reaper was excited and howling in ecstasy. I felt my spiritual energy going through the stone, into the core, at the very center where the big prize was kept untouched for millennia. I could feel something permeating the stone, a foreign energy of some kind and my hidden marks absorbed it greedily, causing the itching to start. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the wild responses inside me, although my façade remain numbed. _Thank God for reaper trades on the presence of threats and possible enemies._

"No, it was removed from a tomb." Natalie said.

"It was a tomb for the robbers. Long before that in a time forgotten to all but a few, it was a court…" I clarified the issue whilst feeling the increasing itching all over my body expanding like a fire. I had to stifle the gasp and my body stiffened. I wasn't able to stop touching the rock until I had absorbed everything. The throbbing in my ribcage felt as if a drummer was beating them from the inside in a frantic solo.

It was much more intense than when I had reaped Barcharolloael and creepier than when I was aware of taking the demonic DNA from Zarthimeatreal. This was much stronger and purer. Pure energy was enhancing my spiritual shield, and something physical was making room for itself in my own DNA. This thing was changing me once again, I just knew it. But my reaper side was ecstatic, happily receiving and welcoming this strange gift. It wasn't black magic, or demon magic. It was just wild. Wilder than anything I had felt before.

"A court? What kind of court?" Natalie asked skeptically.

"A dragon's court." The image was so clear now in my mind. I took a shallow breath. A bit overwhelmed. "I thought it was a myth, my father loved myths. He used to read this one to me when I was sick. But here you have physical proof. Could I make a copy of the carvings?" I asked. "Strictly for scholar purposes." I closed my eyes suspecting that they had turned all green. I had to fight against my marks to force them to remain unseen. I knew the marks were spreading all over my skin by now, because of the itching. But this time it wasn't burning me; just making me feel like laughing, it tickled a lot. It was such powerful energy, but so good for me.

"A dragon's court?" Phyllis frowned, my senses told me, because I was still seeing the brick in front of me. Her tone wanted to be contemptuous, but she was impressed because I knew something only a scholar would. I was an enigma to her and every little detail about me confused her even more. She couldn't catalogue me as easily as she would like. I wonder what she will put in her report about me. I grinned as I imagined her frustration and all of the contradictions which would exist in my file.

"Yes, once upon a time, dragons wandered the Earth, they were old and wise and they judged over people's sins. Until the demons and elves killed them all. Too prideful, too drunk on their own up growing power to respect the power the dragons held, to see the damage and the unbalance they were creating. Dragons began to die due to the unbalance, they tried to fight back, but by then it was too late…The last dragons died not long before witches appeared. What a shame!" I sighed whilst feeling the last throbbing on my ribs and my spine. I turned to see them.

"You didn't strike me as the type to enjoy legends." Natalie chuckled.

"I'm full of surprises." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

"Indeed." Kimberly stood in the doorway behind Natalie. "Do you need Rachel further, Natalie?"

"No, she can go, unless you want to stay and make sure I don't hurt them, Rachel." the smugness in her was almost unnerving, she was mocking me, she knew I couldn't do a thing to stop her because of the circumstances, and taunting me was a good way to try to get my temper working in her favor. If I attacked her in any way she would have a motive to move against me, Ivy or Rynn, depending on her plans.

"_Stay calm, dear!"_ Ivy reminded me cautiously.

"_Don't worry, babe, reaper instincts, I'm nice and numb right now, not to mention distracted. What was that in the wall?"_ I retorted pensively. However, my savior complex wasn't about to give up.

"Please, they weren't trying to spy on you, only me, although she is affected by Borgia." I shot a glance at Jillian. The witch was hugging herself, barely recovered from the sensual assault of Natalie's pheromones on her new scar. "And the timing is highly suspicious." I said pensively, it was too much to take in at once.

"You still have no idea." Natalie nodded. "I don't need a quarrel with the witches right now, but I'm going to be sure they don't bother me again after this. I'm arranging that with their superiors. I only want to know what they know about Borgia."

"It's not much, just rumors" Phyllis avoided the question.

"Ah, so, you don't want to cooperate. You can stay here few days before I call your superior." Natalie said coldly.

"This is illegal, you can't hold us against our will, this is kidnapping." Phyllis said.

"In that case, how about I call the IS and turn you both over to them for trespassing on my property? I can make sure the paperwork takes weeks, if not months that you will both spend separated in cells surrounded by vampires far more uncivilized than me. By the time you can get out, the only thing the two of you would be capable of doing is begging a vampire to bite you. Well, actually… " Natalie smirked at Phyllis "…she's already in that state." A new wave of pheromones made Jillian moan and I had to cover my mouth and put my hand over my rebelling stomach.

"Do you need air, Rachel?" Natalie chuckled sensually. I nodded, afraid to open my mouth or breath. Phyllis didn't seem impressed.

"It's your call…" Natalie smiled slyly at Phyllis. Every inderlander knew that the IS was ruled by undead vampires. Witches and other species were highly mistreated, especially if a master vampire was the one presenting the charges against them. "They will be picking you up in 10 minutes." She decided to walk to the door. "Ah, anyways I'm going to call your superior and make sure both of you get fired."

"They won't cede to your request." Phyllis said confidently.

"Of course they will, you'll be lucky if they don't toss your trainee into Alcatraz for that smut. Demon magic is not tolerated in the Coven for Ethical and Moral Standards." Natalie retorted amused. "Perhaps they'll be kind enough to give you a cell next to hers for being the incompetent that let her fall into a demon curse. You will be fired." Natalie said calmly, coldly, full of confidence. She was talking sense. The Coven wasn't known for showing mercy.

"I took the liberty of making some inquiries. I know for sure that even though you are a respected witch, because your talents, not many people like you. You're a loner, you never played office politics and you have no debts you can call in to get you out of this situation. No advocate to fight your corner. By now, they are looking for an excuse to fire you." The master vampire seemed very pleased when Phyllis heartbeat sped up. Of course she had to know Natalie wasn't sloppy in doing her job, dirty or clean.

"We both know for sure that once you are out, they will dispose of you, the witches don't work as differently from vampires and weres." The master vampire added completely sure with a bright smile. "You not only let a vampire bit her, but you failed in everything and she is under a demon curse that Borgia has somehow acquired. Borgia is the only vampire that imparts smut on her victims. There's no way of freeing her unless you or her do a deal with a demon. Maybe it's not your fault, but you are the one in charge, the one to blame. I am sure your superior is not taking the fall for this failure." She shrugged her shoulders femininely and charmingly.

"Fine!" Phyllis lips were now a tight line on her face. "There have been some reports on suspicious movements and a number of witches disappearing mainly in Chicago, Texas, here in California and Louisiana. About 6 months ago a friend of mine that lives in Scotland called me and warned me, he said Borgia was moving onto America. Of course I informed my superiors, and they tried to contact the other heads of the Coven's that cover the major European countries. I'm not that high ranked so they didn't inform us about the findings, but I managed to find out Borgia had been seen in Chicago and Texas, not here. There aren't many people that know what she looks like." Phyllis said.

"See? That wasn't hard now was it?" Natalie smiled charmingly again. "I will call your superior as soon as I have dealt with a minor problem here."

"Wait! Why is she here?" Phyllis pointed at me.

"Rachel is Ivy's Scion. Ivy and her family are attending my Solstice party as guests of honor. Ivy had to bring her Scion, its protocol. As for why she's in this room, when we caught you, I knew you had visited her in Cincinnati. I thought you would be more cooperative with a person you already knew. And I wanted to know some details on the audience the Coven has given her. She hasn't been communicative on that subject." Natalie smiled at me. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"She has to present herself after the Solstice in the main building in San Francisco. It's not my place or hers to judge what is going to happen. She will present her case and her reasons, the Council will determine if she had valid reasons to be dealing with a demon. And then they will make a decision about her. The most probable thing to happen is that she gets locked up in Alcatraz for the rest of her natural life." Phyllis shrugged her shoulders. "I was expecting her to try and run. That's why we are tailing her."

"You don't know her. She never backs off." Natalie laughed in good spirits. "I think she believes that she can convince your superiors off her reasons. Personally I see no good reason to summon demons; but she did it to save people, not for personal gaining." She said and I was fairly astonished. I didn't expect Natalie to defend me.

"As I said, it's not my place, nor is anyone else's. The council will judge on her actions. Besides, almost all witches that fall to the temptation of summoning a demon relapse very soon, especially if the consequences they suffer aren't dire the first time. I can't see a demon mark on her, so at least she had to do another deal to get rid of the marking, and who knows what she used as payment." Phyllis mumbled the last part. Yes, she was convinced I was a black witch too smart to be in the streets. I had no ally in her even if part of her liked me.

Shaking my head I walked out of the cell. Kimberly guided me up through the labyrinth of passages untilñ a guard joined us to lead the way to other passages. The day had just begun and it had already been a long day with more than one discovery to take into consideration. We still had to prepare for the meeting with the Texan Master Vampire this evening. At least then we would know who the victim of the curse that had lost their soul to Zarthimeatreal was. This journey was proving exhausting in every sense. At least I had Ivy to rely on and to help me to clear up all of this nonsense.


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm adding some characters of my own. Time to meet the Texan Master vampire, I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for staying on board to all the people still reading this closer to the end adventure. Thank you for your reviews all of them are appreciated and treasured, I've never mind of constructive criticism, I'm very aware of my lacking on vocabulary and proper English grammar, my primary goal is let the ideas going out.

Natasha, I want to thank you again for your time, efforts and advices as priceless as ever. Although I messed with the chap again after the corrections, so, any error it's all on me.

CHAPTER 31

A guard guided us through the corridors that still looked the same to me, one after another; Kimberly was again sniffing discretely trying to know this maze a bit more. I was relieved when I went upstairs and reached our bedroom in the cottage.

Ivy was there; sitting on the bed, she had Tammy on the mattress as well, lying on her back, while leg wrestling with her hand. My heart warmed when our baby waved an arm towards me, almost squealing. My vamp was using a robe, a pool robe in white. Our baby was in her bathing suit.

"Hello there, little one." I said grabbing softly the tiny hand in mine to kiss her palm. She went anxious and restless, kicking and giggling, her body twitching a bit trying to face me better while her marks on the arm glowed, and mine on my hand and forearm did the same. Something clicked inside me and I could feel the joy and the wild euphoria overtake Tammy. I felt her marks dragging out of mine some of the energy the brick gave me. She seemed to calm down outside, but I could feel her inside. And she was positively howling in ecstasy. My reaper side knew Tammy was mine, my baby, and I wanted to protect her and share the treasure with her. The same as I wanted to save her the day I took from her the curses and magic she couldn't manage, the day she born, the day she became the same thing I was now, a reaper.

"Dear heart?" Ivy watched as our daughter eyes became all blue and her vertical pupil went wide and narrow adjusting to the light, mine were as well all catty, locked on the blue ones.

"_Something was inside that brick, Ivy, I'm not sure what it was but my reaper side thought it was really great, now Tammy was curious and she is taking some for herself." _I said to her mind only, we witnessed how all the tiny body glowed with new marks for a second and then the marks disappeared, Tammy began to twitch more, I knew it was the itching of the new marks forming. My marks also went invisible on my forearm and my eyes returned to normal the same time the blue ones on Tammy's perfect face.

Our baby whimpered a bit and I scratched her softly, she almost sighed raggedly when Ivy's fingernails joined mine at the other half of the tiny body. _"Oh, yes, it's awful having an itch and being unable to make it better." _I thought at them before kissing the black little curls.

"_God, you stink!"_ I wasn't sure if Ivy meant that for me to hear but I blushed. _"Sorry, dear heart, it's just I hate when you smell of other vampires."_ She looked at me apologetically a tinge of rose tinting her cheeks. She kissed my lips, I deepened the kiss.

"_You know I'm all yours, honey. I'm sorry I forgot about it, I'll take a shower…"_

"I sent for a bathing suit for you, why don't you join us in the pool?" Ivy proposed in a soft voice.

"Sure, it would be a fine distraction. I just wanted to come back to you. The coven agents that gave me the summoning for my audience tried to enter here last night, of course they were captured. Jillian Rothberg has been bitten by Borgia… and Phyllis is certainly pissed off about it." I said. Ivy already knew, but if someone was listening, it was something the spies would think I couldn't wait to tell my lover.

"What happened?" Ivy played along faking concern and anger.

Ivy signaled a shopping bag on the dressing table and I took it, it was a one piece green bathing suit, modern but not too revealing. It contained a fluffy robe just like Ivy's. So we had matching robes once again and we could take one or the other without a problem, mixing our scents if we wanted.

I summarized the meeting she witnessed through my mind and eyes while undressing and putting the bathing suit on.

"I'm sorry for them, but they shouldn't follow you, knowing about the war." Ivy frowned a bit. "Now that you're here, why don't you take care of Tammy while I see what we can wear tonight. Then is time to play with Tammy." She said going to rifle throughout all the clothes she had decided to bring with us, all of them neatly hanging on the dressing room.

We played with Tammy hoping to wear her out and tiring her enough to make her sleep during our absence. Our baby enjoyed our full attention, as always, she was so playful and so active. This time I received her from Ivy's arms inside the warm water. Our little mermaid made us chase her in the water for more than an hour, before get too hungry, afterwards we cuddled in bed with her, letting her reach a mobile and leg wrestling our hands, Erica was there playing as well, even Robert came to play with her. It was a family time and a worthy one at that, because she was so happy and bubbly, giggling and squealing excitedly. We all adored our little one.

All of us knew well that Tammy hated when we weren't near her. She wanted all the time at least one of her moms by her side. Our baby was barely over a week old, and she needed us. Her enhanced reaper senses always told her when we weren't with her. She only wanted her moms taking care of her, and that was the minimum any parent could offer. _Damned Master vampires, their quarrels and plots, keeping us from giving our baby what she needs._ I couldn't avoid thinking when the time began to be a pressure matter and we have to start preparing and dressing for 'dinner'.

Ivy had fed our baby while I was taking a shower. I took our baby from her arms to give her the bottle while my partner began to dress and prepare for the vampire meeting disguised as dinner.

"How old is he, babe?" I asked curiously sat on the bed with Tammy in my arms. Our baby was looking at my lover with all her attention whilst distractedly sucking the rubber nipple of the bottle I was supporting for her.

"Over three thousand years old. I've never met him before." She said braiding her hair. She smiled through the mirror to Tammy. Our baby seemed mesmerized for her mom's actions. "See that look in her face? It's the same she has when you're cooking and moving in the kitchen, dear heart." Ivy told me with the cinnamon eyes brightening tenderly. My heart warmed more, our baby loved us equally; she paid the same attention to both of us. "Rica is going to babysit her. I hope we can be back by the time Tammy gets hungry again." My sweet vamp sighed resignedly. She didn't want to go. To be frank, neither did I. "With a little luck she´ll be asleep the entire time we're gone." Ivy sighed again checking her jewelry box, the braided hair look classy yet accentuated the best features on her lovely face, specially the slightly almond shape of her eyes.

My partner was attired with a black dress, the length a bit below the knees, no sleeves and discrete cleavage, it wasn't a maternity dress, but it didn't hide the baby bump, however it looked natural and she was proud of it, she wasn't looking for hiding the fact she was expecting. She still looked sexy in an elegant fashion, however, Ivy always looked sexy to me, I wasn't the best judge. I could barely see the design in the fabric, but it had green and turquoise threads forming figures undulating in the black silk. The designer was from Cinci, now he was about to take charge as new head of designing in a famous fashion house. Many vampires were their clients because that kind of fabrics only vampires could appreciate fully.

"I didn't think they could have the dress in time, and I didn't pack any jewels suitable for this one, maybe I should wear another thing." She frowned a bit.

"You have emerald earrings, don't you?" I asked getting on my feet to make Tammy burb.

"Yes."

"And if you use the silver restraint Claire gave me?" I proposed. "And maybe a long white gold long chain with that pendant I saw you once?"

Ivy's eyebrows rose a bit considering the offer.

"Do you think is alright if I borrow it?" she took it out the jewelry box.

"Of course, it can affect a witch. But you're a vampire, babe, so there's no mean side effects for you, on the contrary, it will help you because the charms inside of it. I know you're very tense, you have been all the time for a while, no one could be unaffected by all the things that have been occurring around us. It will help you to relax a bit, if you still have any pain, even if it's minor, you won't feel it anymore. I know you're still a bit hurt inside, and the healing charm will help with that." I smiled to her through the mirror. Ivy put the thick and wide bracelet on her right wrist. It had a pair of emeralds, some turquoise and jade adorning it.

Ivy placed her hand over her baby bump and saw the effect at the mirror with a smile.

"It looks just fine, matches the design in an appealing way. Thanks, dear heart." She returned the smiled to me, showing those slightly longer canines. How could I feel afraid of that smile before? It was so mischievous yet so endearing at the same time. Ivy was angel and devil wrapped in one, she always had been.

"Hey, you chose the clothes. We know I'm not trustable on that matter. Besides, I always borrow your things." I shrugged my shoulders, I enjoyed too much her scent and being covered by it, that was my reason to take her things as much as I could. "That's my little witch, you're such a good girl, my love." I kissed our baby when she finished her bottle. I stood up to help her burp over my shoulder.

Ivy sang a lullaby quietly rocking our baby while I was getting ready. Tammy loved when her Mom sang to her. I loved when Ivy sang as well, even if it was this quietly. Her grey silk voice was made for seducing all the ones hearing it. Our Tammy fell asleep. Erica came to watch over her in our absence. We both kissed her hair before coming downstairs to meet with Robert and Kimberly.

The sensation of being bound to someone that I felt as soon I came back from my strange extracorporeal experience in ever after grew up as we approached the main house. I had managed to keep that at bay all day long, in the back of my mind. But now that we're about to deal with the source, it came back with a vengeance, unsettling me a bit. Natalie had sent a car for us. Kimberly was dressed formally, her red dress was beautiful. Robert chose an elegant three pieces blue navy suit. Ivy and I were in dresses as well, not as classy as her mother, but we looked good. Ivy had braided my hair for me, simply but nicely done up with some free curls around my face.

As soon as I decided to use my second sight in the silent ride through the sinuous path across the woods in the state; my enhanced reaper second sight picked easily the same faded smut lingering in the air that I detected in the afternoon, while talking to the Coven witches. Now I could see it wasn't a fog covering all, but a tenuous broad line, waving and curving in the air, a continuous but wavy line very clearly drawn all the way into the main house.

My heart clenched when I realized that smut line was attached to me. My reaper self took control of my emotions before my heart could race the pace. It tightened my throat making me unable to scream out of surprise and loath. The blackness and the nauseating feeling in my gut said it was demon magic. The line became clearer and clearer as we approached the mansion. I had tensed up a bit in the way. Ivy noticed it, she held my hand intertwining her fingers on mine.

I understood I somehow got in the way of the vessel containing the soul and the body said soul belonged before, maybe when I accidentally fell over the container in my spiritual form. This was definitely worse than Skimmer's case. The connection felt stronger too with every feet I was closer. I would say at least ten times stronger the one I felt with Skimmer when I touched her blood after I absorbed Barcharolloael.

When we reached Natalie's house, Skimmer was there to greet us and guide us to the terrace in question. Only she led us first to a closed room where Melissa and Isabella were waiting for us in the first floor.

"This room is sound proof." Skimmer stated after closing the door behind us. It was a kind of reading room, with a pair of armchairs and comfortable couches, filled with bookcases and beautiful little sculptures between books. Big windows with thick curtains that remained closed at the time. "Natalie wants you to have a heads up on the situation." The petit blond was wearing a halter dress and stiletto shoes all in white, looking as sexy as she could, while being delicate and feminine. I remembered once again why I disliked her so much. Dorothy was too attractive, almost too beautiful and graceful to be true. She made a head motion to the witches.

"The things are very bad with Benedict's entourage and with the master vampire himself. All the living vampires he brought are affected, much more than anyone we had here. However the really concerning point is his Scion. She is a girl, a very young living vampire. Her name is Ingrid Jamison; she is as bad as Skimmer was for sure, maybe a little worse." Isabella said concerned.

"What do you mean?" Kimberly asked first. "His Scion?" Ivy's mother brow marred a bit in concern as well. "How can that be? Is it possible that his master doesn't know she is controlled by her? The Scion binding is so much closer and intimate than the Master Shadow binding. He has to know or at least suspect something isn't right with his Scion." She opined sternly, looking at me for an answer.

"I don't know, Kimberly…Benedict could know or not. That would depend on the ability of Borgia to conceal herself inside the mind of their victims. Remember that the very subject that is affected doesn't know; it is like a zone of the brain is occupied by Borgia alone… until she wants to take over entirely, as she did with Skimmer… I need to take a look before I can give an opinion. The other option would be that the master vampire is already on Borgia's side." I said carefully and let that sink in before continuing. It was a possibility none of us liked.

"Natalie only had one person directly in contact with her everyday: Heather, whilst Rynn only had one on those circumstances as well. But Benedict has his entire entourage cursed?" I reasoned my suspicions aloud. "Either he's oblivious to a number of symptoms or Borgia has managed to master the curse in a way the victims never behave differently from usual in front of their master. We know That Rynn and Natalie didn't notice until we told them."

The silence reigned amongst us for few seconds.

"Natalie knows the expiration date for the counter curse ends tomorrow at midnight." Melissa commented. "Maybe they won't know if you free them or they could, but certainly Borgia will know. We need you to take a look. The main concern though, it's Augustus Benedict 's Scion. For me the girl is even worse than Skimmer, the smut quantity is something I have never seen before. The smut is much more active too, it moves unnervingly." She was talking to me.

"That means Borgia is listening and controlling her, the more it swirls and concentrates in one zone, the bigger the control Borgia has on that limb or zone. Therefore, Natalie and you can't say a thing to him about the war in front of her." I explained; my gaze went to Ivy's mom concerned. Kimberly nodded sternly.

"Melissa and Isabella will see nothing happens to your witch, Ivy. But we can't be that long in here, they saw the car coming. So we have to go and greet Augustus." Skimmer seemed uncomfortable; she didn't like to be reminded of her brief period with Borgia. "His Scion is with him. She can see her when she gets there."

Ivy's tension built up instantly; of course she didn't want to leave me behind, where she couldn't protect me personally.

"Go, Ivy, I can watch myself for half an hour." I nodded at the idea. I needed to know what was happening in here. I needed to see whom I was attached to before actually met the person. I was guessing it was this cursed Scion.

"Skimmer is right we can't take too much time in here. He could be offended, Ivy. Natalie has an arrangement with Rynn. Rachel is your Scion and no one can touch her. The orders are those, and you know Natalie keeps her word once she gives it." Kimberly intervened.

"_Go Ivy. We can communicate to each other without any of them notices it. The moment I see danger I'll call for you and you do the same, please."_ I said inside her head.

"_It could be too late if they attack you, dear."_ She retorted. Ivy was very reluctant to leave me alone in strange grounds.

"_I'm a reaper, Ivy. I killed four undead assassins. If I have to, I'll do it again."_ I looked at her increasingly black eyes reassuringly. "Go, I will catch up with you in no time. I felt the connection too strongly. I need to know why. I need few minutes to figure it out." I said for everyone to hear.

"What?" Kimberly asked with a frown, the witches and Skimmer had alerted as well. I wished I hadn't opened my gargantuan mouth.

"Do you remember the ball chains attached to my soul? I know Melissa and Isabella are right because I feel one very near me, I haven't told anyone, but this morning I felt it, around 5, when the entourage arrived." I answered to my mother in law. However, my reaper's nerves told me about the exchange of looks between the twin witches, suddenly surprised and uncomfortable. That meant I had found a debt to Z, the demon I had made my familiar. That frightened Isabella. Melissa felt more envy than fear. "It became too disturbing in the way here from the cottage." I let Kimberly know.

"Is that why you were holding Ivy's hand like if your mind depended on it?" Kimberly surprised me with her question. "I thought you were a bit nervous because your first official time as Ivy's Scion in a crucial meeting…" she shook her head. "You should have told us, we're depending on your ability to see the danger in there. What this means?"

"I'm guessing Z was the one collecting that soul… she must be very close to lose it, almost in the verge of collection…like was Skimmer's. But I can't know for sure until I have assessed the girl myself." I answered honestly.

"Can you do it from here?" Kimberly asked.

"Maybe, I will try." I sighed.

"Mom, we're too far, she can see the smut, but not the particularities, there's no such thing as zooming at second sight." Ivy said. "Rache, don't do anything that can blow the cover up; if one of the cursed ones is aware of the bonding, then you can't release her or him." Ivy said slowly and quietly, he silky voice undulating beneath the surface with anger, she hated this kind of set ups. One of the reasons she loathed Master vampires was this. They always decided without the approval of the parties involved. Ivy had been affected in bad ways many times because of their whims.

"I know… I will wait until Natalie and Kimberly decide what to do after consulting with Rynn. I'm very aware of the stakes in here, honey. We can't risk the anger of yet another Master vampire. But I need to see for myself, Ivy. I can't be sure of anything without assessing the entire situation with my second sight." I insisted. "That's why I haven't said anything."

"Alright, we will be in the terrace. If you're not there in 30 minutes I will come and get you." My lover decided at last, even if she hated the idea of leaving me alone in a Master vampire's lair.

"You will do the best for the political sake of the meeting, Ivy. We have our hands full with Borgia alone…" I sighed, showing I wasn't thrilled with this myself. "I need to think for few minutes, I need to see them carefully in order to assess the damage properly…" I trailed off. "Besides, I don't need to be amongst them, only near them, remember, we can only see the stains with our second sight. Walls aren't an issue here." I cajoled her.

"Exactly, that's why we chose this room too. They are below us, dining; all of them except for two bodyguards that are with him in the terrace. Even the undead, so you can imagine the kind of dinner they're having." There was a slight mockery in Melissa's voice. Ivy's jaws clenched.

"Thanks for the warning…See, Love? I will be here, in this room, totally safe." I looked for her eyes again, almost completely black by now, only a thin rim of brown left in the irises.

"Ok, don't take a minute longer than you must." Ivy sighed, not resignedly, but annoyed. She kissed my lips shortly but intensely, I could feel the frown on Skimmer's face and her tightly clenched jaws. I kissed her back pleased. Ivy was claiming me in all the ways she could, showing her affection for me, making clear for everybody our bond.

"I won't." I smiled reassuringly to her. Her hands squeezed mine before leaving the room with her parents and Skimmer. Isabella closed the door behind them.

I took a deep breath and focused on my second sight. I hated it when I had to see trough floors, there was always that awkward sensation that you were about to fall. Of course it was only a trick of the mind. The floor was there even if I couldn't see it.

An entire dozen of vampires were distributed in a big room full of divans and big cushions. Humans were their dinner; some of them were sharing very compromising sexual encounters at the same time they were feeding. The humans were attractive females, surely gifts from Natalie, she never stopped on expenses to be the perfect hostess.

All the vampires forming the entourage were male, eight living vampires, and four undead. All the living vampires sported smut on their auras. The undead had no soul, so they couldn't be affected by the curse. Melissa and Isabella were right. All of the 8 living vampires were much worse than the ones I had seen in both, Rynn's and Natalie's camarillas.

However, the smutty thread lingering on thin air, connecting me to another being was going in an entirely different direction. I wasn't attached to any of these. I looked towards the more defined but not less tenuous shade of smut floating; it went up towards a male on the place Ivy was getting with her parents and Skimmer. I managed to stifle the gasp of surprise: I had expected to be attached to a girl, to Benedict's Scion. I wasn't.

If I hadn't been in reaper alert mode I had given myself away with a yep. That was impossible. The vampire I was connected to with demon magic was at the table, it had to be the famous Augustus Benedict. How in the Turn I was bound to an undead vampire and not the living one standing behind him? Was his the soul I had seen trapped in a flask in Ever after?

"_That has to be… Z was a common trader, he couldn't be able of doing something like this… Damn! If Barcharolloael was his lover, perhaps they had some kind of compromise or arrangement… I killed Rollo before I made Z my familiar. If they were something like next to keen… then all of Rollo's possessions had to pass at his death to Z, and I had taken possession of all of Z's assets, magical and otherwise the moment I took him as familiar…Rollo was definitely capable of something like this. Crap on toast! That's why I inherited all these debts, they're from two demons, not only one." _I thought to myself.

I didn't focus on the girl for now. They were far away and not very clear to me because the distance. But a superficial glance was enough to see her aura was very tainted and that smut was acting very much as the one Skimmer had when she stabbed Ivy. Borgia was there, witnessing everything. I focused all I could and I felt the connection to the girl as well, she still had her soul, she was at the verge of losing it, just as Skimmer was before the anti curse. Something else called my attention, concealed inside her dress, the girl had a little thing covered with demon magic… _an amulet or a charm, perhaps?_ I wondered.

"So, what do you think, anyone in there is as bad as Skimmer was?" Melissa asked after giving me few minutes. Two of which I had been staring up and not down.

"No, none of them are aware of the slavery Borgia put upon them. I could free them and none of them would notice. Shame I can't free them without the approval of your master and mine. But I'm not sure if they are not going to notice it…" I still was looking up towards the terrace.

"You mean her?" Melissa took a glance to the object of my interest. "Benedict? Or both?"

"I need a minute, please." I said sitting down on an arm chair. My mind was racing.

My reaper side sent an empathic probe on instinct. I closed my eyes to hide they were all green. Then things become clearer for me. The throbbing in my ribcage became a little stronger, then I began to pick up the feelings, I could felt it came from the trapped soul. Sadness, despair…

Ivy and her parents were being introduced. The master vampire from Texas felt a surge of anger as soon he saw Ivy. My empathic probe almost made me gasp again. Anger… the soul, was Augustus, not the girl, I was sure now. And he had contact with it. His soul was deeply troubled, desperation and sadness were the main feelings, depression beyond anything I could feel before. _"Of course, after over three thousand years trapped. Wait a minute…Borgia has been using demons for millennia…she had been killing younglings of vampire families in a ritual all this time. Demons plus ritual…She had been stealing their souls. She kills the kids and steals their souls… Why?"_ I took another glance at them in the terrace. I was too far away to grasp any features. All I could see clearly were their auras. _"What's the use of kidnapping their souls? Blackmailing perhaps?"_ I was wondering when something stirred inside me, my gut told me I wasn't lost_. _

"_Then…is she enslaving the souls to enslave the undead?"_ I felt like a scream inside me, not coming from my head but from my ribcage. It was slightly unnerving because that was the soul I was connected to reacting to my thoughts_._

"…_Ok, now I'm talking to a trapped soul…"_ I sighed feeling very awkward_. "I'm getting ready for the funny house at quick pace."_ This time I felt and heard more like a giggled whisper, a sad whisper, almost resigned but with a touch of mockery.

"_Fine, I can live with it…So, help me out here, my friend… she, by she I mean Borgia, Killed you and other 11 kids…"_ I thought carefully slow. A single murmur of acceptance replied me this time.

"_She certainly does a kind of ritual to trap all of your souls… but she's not a witch maybe one demon taught her or prepares it for her."_ I continued speculating. A clear feeling of denial throbbed from my ribs.

"_No?...Wait, one demon is too risky for her… nothing could stop a smart undead if he or she could find that demon and make their own deal to release or recover the soul… unless… she has the property of the souls… those souls I saw in Z's storage room were barely six, she has to have a lot more after thousands of years… mmh…crap on toast… we're talking here about much more than one demon, she deals with many…" _the murmur of approval came back "_… a well bargained deal could prevent the demons from asking questions to the souls, so they can't know who's souls they have…"_ the approval whispering continued too. The sole idea of that was making me angry.

"… _then Maeve to avoid anyone could steal the vessels with the souls, decided to grant them in custody to a number of demons?"_ This time it was almost like someone was patting my back in congratulations for my wits.

"_Yes, that sounds right, a resourceful undead could steal the souls even in holy ground, because you can be-spell humans. Is that it? Is she blackmailing you because you want your soul back? She picks the younglings because the soul is more vulnerable at the beginning of teen age…then what happens? Does she kill the ones not interested in the fate of their souls?"_ The soul replied with that soft positive whisper.

My anger grew a notch up. Borgia was behaving as a demon, stealing souls to create undead slaves.

"_Double damn! If she already stole their souls and then killed them twice…She has to keep those souls to trade them for demon favors…" _my jaw clenched tightly. The trapped soul showed me its approval to that guess with something very similar to a whine_. "Damn vampire! She keeps the souls from the ones agreeing to pay for it and the extra ones go to demons for their favors… She's as bad as demons!" _I could barely contain my marks when the rage I felt was about to snap my control. I took a deep breath to calm down.

"_Is there a time limit? Is this a deal she made with you? With your body and mind?" _ I corrected myself.

"_Ivy told me you have been undead for more than three thousand years, so this deal finishes at one point? ...you tell me… how long are you obliged to serve her? 3200 years? ...3300? ... 3400? … 3500?"_ the throbbing signal in my ribcage came here.

"_My God! 3500 years of slavery in return for getting you back?"_ I could feel the soul yelling in despair, it was crying and for a moment I wanted to cry too. But I couldn't in my reaper mode, my eyes were still closed concealing my vertical pupils. My marks were itching to punish this crime. I barely could maintain them unseen once more. Anyhow, the soul knew I was empathetic to its suffering.

"_I'm sorry. What happens then? Do you get released and allowed to go to wherever the souls go after dying?"_ I asked gently.

I couldn't allow this pass by… I just couldn't. That bitch was unbalancing the worlds much more by herself than 30 black witches put together. Every single new discovery on Borgia was worse than the last. That bitch had to fall down.

There was hesitance in the soul. I interpreted the feeling. That was the deal, but the soul was sure it would never happen. I couldn't begin to fathom the suffering of that tormented soul, witnessing the heinous actions his body had to commit in the name of his own assassin, powerless to do a thing to trying to prevent the crimes, but forced to see them and maybe feel guilt about it. Yes, the soul was grieving all the time not only because its imprisonment but for the price it was paying to be released. Borgia had to be stopped for good.

I could feel this soul and I was even more convinced that a vessel was the worse plan to keep vampires' souls, absolutely useless in the long term, maybe a temporary and short emergency solution, but not the one I wanted. I wanted Ivy able to feel freely, that wasn't happening here. Maybe Borgia's books could contain hints that would help me in my research for saving Ivy's soul. Obviously Borgia knew more than one thing about magic and souls. Maybe I could take a peek in there if we win the war.

"_Alright, thank you for your help, now I have to go and see your body and mind. If I can, I will release you, I promise."_ I said to the soul in my mind.

"_Rachel?"_ Ivy's mental voice called me and I almost jerked in the armchair, caught by surprise_. "Who're you talking to?"_ my lover demanded a bit strained.

"_That would be the soul I felt in the morning, love… Apparently I can communicate with it…I'm attached to Augustus Benedict's soul, not to the girl's…His soul can't properly talk to me, but I can feel whatever the soul is feeling, so I was questioning it…"_ I let her know quickly what I had found out so far. Ivy's surprise and anger was clear through our bond.

"_It's horrendous! 35 hundred years obeying her just to free his soul? I almost can't believe it."_ My sweet vamp was outraged.

"_He has some sort of contact with the soul, love. That's why he continues playing for her. If he had no contact with the soul, then he had rebelled a long time ago. Remember he was just a kid when he was murdered."_ I explained to her_. "I'm not done yet, babe. I still have to evaluate Ingrid...Give me a moment… you're welcome to see if that doesn't intrude with your meeting." I_ offered and I could hear her mental snarling.

"_This man is rude and now I can't even blame him…He was expecting seeing you with me and your absence wasn't appreciated by him. I can stay here and there, it's my mother and Natalie doing the talking, hierarchy…you know?"_ Ivy explained to me resignedly.

"_Being a vamp is less glamorous than it seems when you have to follow that humiliating behavioral code. I'm glad I'm a witch, all the perks don't worth the effort." _I mocked her.

"_Tell me about it! You haven't begun to see the more humiliating parts." _She snarled again.

Then I focused on the girl again. I couldn't see her physical features, but her aura was covered with black smut, oily and viscous looking, swirling over her head mostly. I could feel Ivy's bafflement and loath towards the way it looked, even if she already had seen it on Skimmer through me. Skimmer was unconscious and the swirls were calmer, this kid had a storm of weird smut covering her, seemed like the smut had its own will, we knew it was Borgia's will. The light throbbing in my ribs told me her soul was already lost to Z or Rollo, this one only equal to the one Skimmer had given me last week.

"_That means she's as mine as Skimmer was and I can release her." _I thought to myself and Ivy. Then I focused more in her body searching for the thing I saw last time, some magic was coating something on her. My reaper side reacted and I thought of a weird word I couldn't pronounce aloud even if my life depended on it. The image made itself bigger and clearer_. "Zooming it's possible, lover." I _said smugly to her. What was that? It looked like a kind of little tubular artifact concealed inside her clothing.

"_A dart maybe, or a syringe?"_ Ivy ventured, and I could feel her unease at the idea.

"_Venom?" A venomous dart maybe?_" I wondered. _"Ivy, don't get near her!" _I asked her worrying even more. Borgia wanted Ivy dead and my baby vamp as well.

"_She's at the other side of the table and I'm aware of the possible danger now, thanks, dear. I can take care of Morgan and myself just fine with the proper warning. Although, venom isn't a good option to kill high blooded vampires, because we can hold up most of them thanks to the virus, and undead aren't even susceptible to venoms for more than a little while…" _My lover was telling me and a bulb light got on in my head.

"_Holy crap! Undead blood or saliva carrying a different virus…" _That idea came big and clear to the front of my mind with a dreadful image of Art and Denon lying dead in the tunnels. Ivy was with me then, she had seen the effects Kisten's recently mutated virus had on Art. Art had been undead for at least a pair of decades then. Vampire virus suffered a mutation at the moment they died their first dead and after mutating it was lethal to any other undead vampire. _"She could be planning on killing Natalie or Kimberly, Ivy!" _The feeling on my ribs throbbed slightly and quickly again. The soul was afraid his former owner would be killed definitely.

"Rachel? Are you alright?" Isabella asked me. I looked at my balled fists on my knees. I was feeling tense, alarmed and worried. I just nodded.

"I need another minute, please…" I closed my eyes once again, focusing on Ingrid in the terrace.

"_Or… she could be planning on killing Augustus Benedict himself, he told you their deal is almost over, if she releases his soul, she has no guarantee he wouldn't turn against her… so, if she kills him in here, Natalie and Rynn would be blamed and the other camarillas would rally against us. My mother is here as Rynn representative. Or maybe she's planning on killing Natalie, of course her people only would have Augustus to blame if his Scion is the one attacking her. That way we would start the war by killing him and we get rid of him for her at the same time."_ The quick response from Ivy filled me with admiration, my vamp was always thinking of all the possible scenarios that can some upon us.

"_You're brilliant!" _I said dazzled for her quick thinking.

"_This could be dangerous; we don't know if she's acting or not; be aware." _Ivy warned me.

"_Borgia is there, not Ingrid… Maybe I can predict when she's attacking; the smut would give away the intent when Borgia takes control of her arms."_ I said thoughtfully.

"What can you see that we can't?" Melissa's eyes were locked on my face. She was feeling annoyed and jealous at the same time. I was certain a normal witch's second sight was unable to see such delicate and faded smut hovering around me and marking my bonding to the undead. Certainly Melissa was frustrated because she didn't know what was taking me so much time.

"It's not what I see, but what I feel… Those are still in time to be released. We have until tomorrow night to do it… Natalie has to know, Kim has to inform Rynn…" I answered to her standing from the arm chair. "I only can guess… But I trust my instincts. Would you guide me to the terrace?"

"Yes." Isabella nodded. I followed her. We took a long walk trough corridors and adorned stairs. Melissa had taken another path.

"You're really in loved with Ivy Tamwood, aren't you?" the witch wasn't asking, her tone was more an affirmation. She and her twin wore the same ethereal outfits, long dresses in light silk and gauze in lilac tones.

"Yes, I adore her." I smiled to myself. I felt the warmth purr inside my head. Ivy was still with me.

"You know, it's very difficult to really be sure… with the biting, vampires can always make you feel so…" she trailed off.

"Do you love Natalie?" I asked her.

"No, she can make me feel like no other, but that's because the neurotoxins. We are very aware she can't love anyone… she's very possessive though. " she shrugged her shoulders.

"I've noticed…" That was the understatement of the year. However, I wasn't really interested in her relationship with the master vampire. "Listen, Isabella, I have a very bad hunch… Be ready to cover Natalie and Skimmer, be as quick as you were when Tammy attacked her…" I said quietly.

I could feel the witch tensing and going to more alert mode.

"Are you expecting an attack on her?" she asked worriedly, as quietly as I spoke.

"Yes, that girl is indeed in a worse place than Skimmer was…She could attack at Natalie or Skimmer, or Ivy at any moment. I will cover Ivy and her parents, you cover the rest." I murmured in a rush.

"Done." The blonde witch nodded and she tapped the nearest ley line, I did the same. I had stored a quantity inside me, but I didn't want her to get suspicious on me.

"_Rache, where are you?"_ Ivy's mental voice reached me again.

"_On my way already, babe… How's the meeting going?"_

"_The same. It's not good, Rache, I wish you wouldn't come. But we only can be alert and act to stop the attack if it happens. We don't know what are they planning until they make their move." _Ivy replied.

"_It sucks, I know."_ The crying of the soul I was connected with made me feel pity. It was an awful way of passing 3 thousand years. Trapped inside a vessel, on a demon's magical pantry in ever after while knowing the atrocities his body and mind were doing. The only thought was chilling: Beholding the damnation from the sidewalk whilst unable to do a thing to prevent it or stop it. It had to be one of the worst fates anyone could be condemned to suffer_. "Be careful, now that I'm closer I can see it's a syringe." _

The terrace in question was on the third floor. Isabella was with me, but Melissa came from the other aisle with a new pair of shoes in her hand that she handed over her sister. She had changed shoes and they would match again. One human servant was behind her. The girl took the comfy almost flat shoes that Isabella discarded and was gone in the blink of an eye. So they weren't using those dazzling high heels all day long.

Melissa opened the door and they entered in front of me, after all, they were Natalie's magical bodyguards. I could see a pair of Natalie's living vampire bodyguards as well, standing in the shadows near the walls. They weren't hiding, only being discrete. Two male living vampires, with smutty auras were near them. Must be the Bodyguards that Benedict bought to the meeting, they were on two pieces black suits, both seemed muscled and were corpulent. One of them reminded me of the undead in denim I had killed in the hospital last week. I could picture him in a cowboy hat easily.

For a Texan, the master vampire was a deception. He wasn't tall, not even with the complexion amulets he was wearing. I could think of him as a business man, but never as a cowboy. He seemed to be in his mid twenties. The back of my mind recited some gibberish before I could process it then I could see behind those complexion amulets.

My heart clenched in pain. God! He was a boy, no older than fourteen years old when he died his first death. Sadness nested in my chest. His face was almost angelical, pale as only undead could be pale. His big almond shaped eyes had long black eyelashes, the irises in his eyes were so light brown it appeared almost golden at the lights aloft. Sadness beyond my own was reeking out of his soul and of him in a clear echo. Sadness mixed with anger.

The sculpted eyebrows were thick but well defined, his features were chiseled. He seemed more a Michael Angelo's statue than an undead vampire. He was beautiful. The roundness of childhood hadn't totally disappeared on his face when the bitch had killed him. He was physically adorable; no twelve to fifteen year old girl could resist that mouth of full lips and the golden sad stare of those enormous eyes. He still had an air of innocence. He was lean but athletic. He must be a rich boy when he died. He seemed too healthy and too groomed. The raven colored hair was a bit long, but he was gorgeous. The suit he wore for the night was impeccable, all in shades of dark grey and black.

Ivy managed to control her surprise when she could see him through my eyes, she was used to wear an unreadable face when she was with vampires, especially Master vampires.

I could feel his intentions of be-spelling me since the moment he laid eyes on me. I walked to position myself behind Ivy's chair. I was a Scion and I had to play my part. Being behind my master in silence unless someone was talking directly to me and Ivy nodded her approval before I could answer. Certainly this could be tiresome. Not to count it was completely against my character. I hoped I could maintain the appearances for the sake of my Ivy's image. I knew I would be always a terrible Scion unable to follow all the vampire code of manners for more than few minutes.

Then I gazed towards the girl behind him. She wasn't tall either, and she couldn't possibly be older than 20 years old, maybe only 18. She was dressed with a juvenile dress, not short, not long, but indeed tasteful and expensive. She was so painfully young, but being him only a teenager in looks it made sense to me. He wanted someone that wouldn't look too bad to be with him. An adult woman would look like a pedophile by his side. She would seem younger than Erica if she wasn't wearing that formal attire. Even if her face was set on that blank, emotionless expression that was so common in vampires, she was pretty, long blond hair braided beautifully.

When I focused my eyes on her I could feel her anguish and her fear. She wasn't in control of her body and she was aware of it. The smut was revolving heavily around her head and shoulders. The poor girl was trapped inside her head. Borgia was here too through her. I could feel her, cold, chilling cold hatred, but her feelings were masked by the smut, they were like distant echoes.

The impertinent elder-kid seemed to evaluate Ivy again glaring at her head to toe after his efforts to be-spell me proved useless. However, his pretty face yet showed disdain. Ivy wasn't used to be ignored or catalogued as inferior. That was the main cause of her tension and anger. Then the golden eyes examined me in the same way with some interest.

"So, at last the infamous Witch is here…" his voice was clear and grave, he surely had passed a lot of time educating this manly voice. He probably just had acquired it few months before Borgia murdered him more than 3 thousand years ago. I had to remind myself he was an elder undead vampire; regardless the circumstances of his passing. He had spent over three millennia doing Borgia's dirty work, from robbing to killing and passing for all the crimes in between. "Is it true? Had she survived demons?" he asked to Ivy. The surprise I felt despite the unreadable masks around the table told me he just had brought the issue now.

"You shouldn't believe the street gossip." Ivy answered succinctly but carefully.

"Certainly…I have heard a great deal of things about the famous Ivy Tamwood. None of them turned to be true so far…" he dismissed her comment razorblade sharp. "I'm bored…what your pet can do to amuse me?" the tone was an insult by itself. However I was more ticked by the way he talked to my Ivy than for his words calling me a pet. The anger surfaced quickly in my eyes. I narrowed them. No matter how much pity I was feeling for him, he should be more careful with the way he addressed to my lover.

"_I can fry your ass extra-crispy, boy!"_ I menaced in my head.

"_Calm down, dear heart…_" Ivy asked me in my mind. _"He's been trying to annoy us with insults the whole time. He wants us to respond; that way he would play the part of the insulted one. Don't give him what he wants."_ She instructed me quickly.

"I'm sorry, but my Scion doesn't make any parlor tricks." She responded calmly.

"You don't have any taste, Ivy Tamwood…" the Texan master vampire said coldly. Skimmer smiled vindictively. Ivy merely clenched her jaws, not feeling insulted herself but because the intention was to insult me.

"Benedict! Why are you insulting my guests after so much insistence on your behalf to arrange this meeting?" Natalie finally claimed. Her volume and her voice were moderated. Anyhow, this was her house and only she had the right to chastise any guest.

"I'm sorry, Natalie…I have heard a great deal of things. It's only I cannot see any of those things in here. This… woman…" He seemed to refrain for using some more insulting word; it was the pause that ticked me again. "…it's a disgrace for our race, and no more than that. The same for your child, dressing like a whore, trying to charm me for you…" he aimed for Skimmer too "… at least Tamwood is dressing like a lady. It would be certainly even more disappointing that she tried to do her usual tricks with me now that she's pregnant." The voice of the boy was filled with contempt.

Natalie's anger arose like the lava inside an erupting volcano. Skimmer was very dear to her. Skimmer couldn't disguise or avoid the snarl coming out of her throat. I could laugh at her if he hadn't added that remark on my Ivy. I knew vampire society had sex for common trading coin. Ivy had to play those political games for Piscary and for herself. She wasn't a whore: Ivy was abided by the circumstances all those times. However that also triggered my jealousy. I wanted to strike back for once, but then I could hear again the pain of his soul. Pity took over the anger, regrettably not all of it.

Kimberly was as mad as Natalie, but contained herself in an iron grip forged during all her years dealing with Master vampires. Surely Piscary wasn't an easy going master. And she was his Scion before dying. Robert could barely contain himself, he had the fists clenched under the table.

"You are absolutely rude, Benedict. I have no idea of what do you want to accomplish by coming here and directly insulting my guests and my child." Natalie's patience was wearing thin.

"I was very curious, Natalie. The witch is infamous, but I don't see why. I was hoping to see at least some tricks done. And all she does is stare rather rudely at my Scion. What is it, Witch? You're no one to judge my Scion or myself!" the master vampire glared at me.

"_What if he doesn't know his Scion has been poached away by his mistress?" _I asked Ivy through our bond. A little spell came to my mind from wherever the reaper's knowledge was stored inside me. I smiled discretely whilst imagining it working.

"She's not…" Ivy said. "No, Rachel." She said aloud.

"_Come on, Ivy! I will only show him Ingrid's aura, if he freaks out, then he doesn't know"_ I said only to Ivy, using our bond.

"No what?" The elder boy asked harshly.

"She knows a parlor trick, but it's not as appealing for vampires as it is for witches." Ivy answered the question. _"That could be interesting, are you sure?"_ my sweet vamp asked me alone. I giggled mentally. "Only she needs a volunteer and she's thinking your Scion could be a perfect subject." Ivy wasn't lying all the way, it was an experiment.

"What kind of trick?" he narrowed his eyes, the golden rim becoming thicker. "Is it dangerous?"

"Not at all…" Ivy shrugged her shoulders. "Do you want to see it?" she almost dared him with her tone.

"If my Scion suffers any damage…" he turned openly menacing whilst warning her.

"Rachel, please do the trick." Ivy decided. "On me first…" her smile was almost a smug, like mocking the concerns of the undead.

"I can do it on myself…It's rather interesting thing for witches, you vampires read people with your highly developed senses: heartbeat, scent, pupil's dilatation. We witches rely on other indicators: auras." I casted the spell and my own aura became visible to everyone there. It was a golden, healthy and clean –_Thank God and reaper expelling demon deeds' traces. _"The anomalies on the auras explain things to the trained eye. Spots like this…" I signaled a bright yellow spot in front of me "… are personal quests." I explained. "And this explains very well why I was staring at your Scion." I casted the spell again and the almost living smut all over Ingrid's aura became visible for all the people there in the terrace.

Ingrid's face showed first horror and then anger. Horror shared by Isabella, Skimmer and even Augustus. Pity was the feeling I could feel from Heather and Robert.

"What the hell is that?" Augustus claimed to me.

"Smut… Your Scion has the second smuttiest aura I had ever seen, and the number one was a demon familiar for a thousand years." I said nonchalantly.

"Why is… smutty?" he was troubled for that.

"That's the payment. Naturally a soul has to undergone a quantity of smut to pay for a demon curse because the unbalance it's causing to the worlds." I answered him softly. "The more powerful the curse, the more quantity of smut is delivered to the soul."

"Demon curse?" the elder boy was now outraged.

"Hey, don't kill the messenger, as far as I Know you did this to her…" I shrugged my shoulders. "Many undead vampires have deals with demons. If you didn't, you have to know the one whom did it… It has to be close to her or she wouldn't be affected." I said noncommittally.

Natalie had narrowed her eyes on me, because my subtle way of letting him know his Scion was compromised. Kimberly's eyes were throwing daggers at me and Ivy, but as soon they saw the reaction on the Texan master vampire they exchanged looks and decided to let it go and see the development of this. I could feel Melissa stifling a snort and Isabella almost rolled her eyes on me. Robert had a tiny smile tugging the corners of his lips barely in the range of perception, yep, Robert was fond of me already. Skimmer had a sense of revenge on the insults the Texan poured upon her; but she was ready to blame me for blowing up the chance to rally him with us.

"Ingrid, when did you go to a black witch and why?" Augustus questioned her. The girl didn't answer. No wonder, Borgia was the one controlling the body, I could feel Ingrid's anguish and fear escalating, because she couldn't warn him, or talk to him. She really cared about him. But she was unable to take control back.

"She didn't. She's the escape goat for another vampire that has no soul. As the undead vampire has no soul then the smut has to pass on to another person with a soul." I explained to him. "And if you aren't the one dealing with demons, then do you know an undead vampire who is dealing with them and it's close to your Scion?" I asked him.

He clenched his jaws. _"Oh yes, you know her very well."_

"How can Ingrid be cleaned up?" Augustus decided to play safe and not let his anger control him. As many vampires, and especially Master vampires, he was used to control his reactions to the point no one could read the true meaning or feelings behind the poker face.

"Time, a whole lot of time… good deeds, those balance the karma; little by little the smut is going to disappear. I would say in about 50 years if she's lucky to live that much, if she can't clean it up by the time she dies her first dead, then the soul has to clean itself before passing to the next level." I explained seriously. "But I'm afraid her soul is already lost to a demon. This is not the first time I had seen this curse." I added carefully. "I know it was rude on me, but that was the reason I was staring at her. I'm sorry for her and for you…" I sighed and then locked my eyes on him. "I'm afraid you will be needing a new Scion very soon." I said in a softer almost apologetic tone.

"Lost to a demon?" Augustus shook his head somewhat dumbfounded for a second. I could feel his pain and his anger. He really loved the girl in a way. His control was iron made, he thought quickly, never giving away any feeling on his mask. "There must be something that can be done to save my Scion's soul. A black witch as famous as you are; you have to know a way…" the statement, even in a detached sounding voice showed me his interest in Ingrid's wellbeing.

"Ivy?" I asked of my master, reminding myself my part in this charade.

"Is there a way, Rachel?" she asked me using an uncompromising tone in her silk grey voice.

"Yes." I nodded laconically.

"Of course, we don't have the liberty to do a thing, unless our master agrees… Mother?" Ivy looked at Kimberly. It was time for the ping pong match and quid pro quo bargain. Augustus stifled a huff, annoyed by my new reluctance to show off.

"You damn witch!" Ingrid's voice was full of scorn. Her cute face tormented and her eyes shedding tears of impotence while the smut seemed to concentrate on her head and arms.

"We meet again, Borgia. Only this time I'm not paralyzed." I locked my eyes on hers.

"Borgia?" Augustus seemed outraged again and lost control on his emotions.

"Isabella, shield!" I warned her just a second before Ingrid's body launched against her mistress jumping over the table graciously. Isabella was ready, as always. I ordered "Rhombus" then Kimberly was protected as well.

Ingrid had jumped against Kimberly the moment she was painfully rejected by the ever after circle around Natalie. Then she was rejected once more by my own circle. However, Ingrid's pain meant nothing to Borgia; and it was Borgia controlling the trembling body. The tears and the pain on her young face were legitimate, the powerless expression of her disagreement and sorrow for the way her body was acting against her will.

"You stupid boy, after 35 hundred years are still the same fool, you served me well, but your services aren't longer required." The voice was venomous when the syringe was traveling firmly handled in the dainty hand towards the paralyzed Augustus, in another jump over the table. Ivy was ready. It was my strong vamp the one stopping armed wrist, the needle just one inch away from Benedict's chest. He was so shocked he didn't react.

Ivy was the strongest living vampire in the Country. A weaker Scion, without her training and expertise in hand to hand combat wasn't a match for her, even pregnant. Augustus reacted quickly and took his Scion, immobilizing her, forcedly bending her knees to hit the floor. His knee painfully lodged over her spine, while his left arm rounded her neck from the back, in a forceful lock. Ivy took the syringe from her hand and the Augustus twisted that arm behind her back. He could break her neck any second he wanted to do it.

"Freya?" he asked tersely over her Scion's ear.

"Don't hurt Ingrid; she can be saved as long Freya dies. You can keep her asleep until that happens." Ivy said concernedly to him. "Rachel?"

I came forward.

"You are dead, witch!" Ingrid's voice spat at me.

"If you only knew how many others had told me the same words along the last few years, Maeve…" I said partly amused partly careless. The bafflement on the fine features, and the faded feelings was priceless for a second. She was used to be feared, not to be confronted with as much coldness as she used. "I'm curious, when did you find out the corpse your minions stole wasn't mine?" I asked directly to her, leaning a bit forwards to see her eyes. A bit of mockery to shake her confidence always was good. At least it worked with Weres. Then all of us could see the smut swirling again frantically all over her aura, arising with her anger. She twitched trying to get free from the grip Benedict had on her.

"You should remember now that you're using a young living vampire body that has not remotely your strength and speed. So, were you planning on killing Sophia or Augustus to start the war, eh?" I asked coldly, using a baneful smile.

"This is not over, witch!" she warned me, stopping the physical fighting.

"Not yet but mark my words, bitch. This is the last face you will ever see before we blow your sorry soulless ass into oblivion." My index pointed to my face. "It is me the one whom will finish the job that red haired witch started so many thousand years ago. You attacked at me first, so I merely will finish it. Prey to Odin or any other God you had believed in…because this time I'm coming for you." My voice was a low but clear growl. Maintaining my eyes normal took an effort of will, but I knew they were glinting with harsh confidence. My hair was sparkling with ley line energy; my hands and my entire body as well, my dress was floating around and very near me. I could see the moment she left Ingrid's body. The girl sobbed pitifully. Her head fell forward and her crying became convulsive.

I could feel also the change in the air behind Augustus back. The two male bodyguards had the smut acting weirdly; they moved to attack. I raised my hands and stroke them both at the same time with a lightening small ribbon of ley line each, they hadn't reached half way towards us. They crashed into the wall shaking uncontrollably. Then I let the fall unconscious to the floor. They weren't dead, but they were out for a while. "Rest a bit, sweetie, you surely need it." I said softly to the sobbing girl and casted a sleepy ley line spell on her. At least I could give her release from her suffering for a while. I repeated the spell over the two fallen bodyguards.

"Melissa, we have to neutralize all the others before she can send them to strike." I said to expert in offensive witch facing them

"It is already done, Rachel. We took preventive measures." Natalie smiled cordially. "Melissa, Isabella, it is time to activate the spell in that room, if you please."

"Right away, Natalie." Melissa was already taking an amulet from her belt. The twin witches casted it. I used my second sight to check on the vampires feeding underground. I could see all the occupants of the room falling asleep. I let the ley line power to dissipate on me.

"It's undead saliva." Ivy was pushing the embolus of the syringe and two drops fell on one napkin over the table. "Do you think its Borgia's?" My lover asked me.

"No, she knows well the dangers of giving away her own saliva. It could be used to locate her, to put a spell on her. She has many undead at her disposal, honey… my bet it's for anyone of the Texan undead downstairs." I deemed aloud. "Any undead vampire blood is enough to kill another undead, even a recently mutated strain. I've seen the effects, they're not pretty." I shrugged my shoulders.

"What you mean, witch?" Augustus had his Scion in his arms, bridal style. He was frowning. "Why did you attack my men?" he growled at me.

"Are you aware that all the living vampires you brought with you are under Freya's commands and not yours?" Natalie asked him almost coldly.

"What?" he frowned at the thought he wasn't the master of his own vampires.

"She has found the way of enslaving living vampires… they aren't aware of it…as Ingrid wasn't aware of it until today. That's why Rachel attacked at your bodyguards and My twin bodyguards put to sleep the rest of your entourage. The stains on their souls are visible to all witches' second sight." Natalie informed him. Ivy moved closer to me, passing an arm behind my waist. We were standing near the table.

"No way! How?" his anger grew with her words.

"She's resourceful…" Kimberly answered this time without emotion. Ivy moved me towards the marble banister in the edge of the terrace, still close to the table.

"How could you know all of this?" his eyes were losing a lot of golden, favoring black. "How?...Is it true a demon has been instructing Tamwood's witch?" he asked almost with respect. That ignited a light into the Californian master vampire eyes.

"Rachel?" Natalie asked directly to me.

I turned to see Kimberly and then Ivy. My mother in law turned her eyes to the Californian Master vampire. Kimberly shrugged her shoulders, deciding to give me the floor.

"I know demons…" I said in an uncompromised tone. "But demon blood and witch blood are different, Natalie… A witch can't do demon magic as much as many witches and humans would never want to accept that truth…So a demon can't teach a witch… they train familiars to make all the preparations for their spells, charms and curses, but the activation of the potions, spells, curses and charms only can be provided by a demon. The familiar takes all the smut…not a fair deal if you ask me…" I avoided the answer. "There's no use in learning demon magic when you can't activate the magic." I shrugged my shoulders.

Natalie stood from her place at the head of the table. "There's a bedroom two doors away, you can place your Scion there, that way the child will be comfortable, then we can talk some more." She offered politely. A gesture of her hand said she'd led him personally out of the terrace. "I assure you, Ingrid will be safe in here. As long she's under the sleepy spell, Borgia cannot control her. And there is a way to save her from the curse… We will talk about it."

"Natalie, if we're transforming this into a formal meeting, I need to contact Rynn Cormel." Kimberly said respectfully.

"Yes, you are right, Kimberly. Heather, bring the gadget and establish a secure line with Cormel." Natalie ordered softly.

"Yes, master." The blonde living vampire left the terrace before Augustus and Natalie.

"Rachel, please don't do more stunts like this one." Kimberly said in quiet voice, next to Ivy. She had left the table to approach us leaning in the banister.

"I'm sorry, Mother, I told her to do it. I was a bit revengeful because his speech towards us." Ivy said. "I know better, I just thought that could give us confirmation on his allegiances."

"It's done. Let's see if we can fix the mess." Kimberly frowned pensive.

"Really, Rachel… Do you always dive into trouble this way?" Melissa asked derisively.

"Pretty much. I'm lucky I'm alive." I chuckled.

"You menaced a Master Vampire, not any master vampire, but one of the eldest in existence. You dared to say practically to her face that you're going to kill her." Isabella shook her head.

"She tried to kill Ivy. I don't care how many times she had tried to kill me, the moment she touched Ivy and harmed our baby… that moment she signed her death warrant." I bit between my teeth, all the amusement gone from me. Kimberly's eyes lost a bit of brown, it wasn't a pleasant memory. Robert gave me a little encouraging smile, he approved me and my reactions to his daughter safety.

Skimmer clenched her jaws. Seeing Ingrid crying had reminded her of the ordeal she passed as Borgia's slave. I already had witnessed the impotence and the anguish over actions. She was shaken to her very core. She had been the tool used to attempt against Ivy. I couldn't blame her for it.

"Kimberly… I found out another thing tonight, and it could be problematic to bring the issue." I said to her in a murmur.

"How come?" She worried at that.

"I discovered what Borgia has been doing all this years during her famous ritual… Benedict is one of her victims too…" I murmured to them. "He is with her, or at least was until she tried to kill him. I have a way to bring it out, but it would be as shocking and as insulting like this one, you give the go… or not."

Kimberly felt really tense then. But we had no time, I couldn't explain without the vampires hearing it. She nodded at me. "This time wait until I say so…"

"Noted." I just nodded once.

I was right. This was going to be a long night. It had just begun.


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer:** Kim Harrison owns most of the characters in this story and the Hollows. I just want to let you know how I would like the story to end.

A/N: I'm very sorry for the longest wait. My muse took off without a warning, a lot of things happened but I hope this time we can finish this story as I promised. No matter how long it takes, this one is going to have a proper end after the final showdown of course. Now to the regular notes:

I'm adding some characters of my own. Time to get in trouble once again, I hope you enjoy it.

To all the people still reading this tale, thank you for staying on board. Thank you for your reviews all of them are appreciated and treasured, constructive criticism never bothers me.

Again I want to thank Natasha for her time, efforts with my confusing English and her advice regarding this story. Any mistakes left are my fault of course; I never can let it go without a final mess up.

CHAPTER 32

Natalie and Augustus came back to the terrace side by side in silence. Heather trailed behind them; the blond bodyguard carried a metallic briefcase. Setting it on the table, she opened to reveal it was in fact a laptop, expertly she began to mount a separate camera on the upper edge, above the screen. She quickly typed something before respectfully placing the briefcase to allow the occupants of the five opposite places to see the screen. Natalie was in her place at the head of the table, Augustus to her right, with Skimmer besides the elder boy. Kimberly sat to the left of the hostess and my Ivy at her mother's left. Heather adjusted the camera until the five were perfectly centered on the screen.

I felt the amusement and curiosity in Natalie's glance towards me when I took my place standing behind my partner. The only reason I could imagine for that was that she'd heard me warning Kimberly about my recent discovery. The grim look from the Texan Master vampire over me confirmed he also heard me. He was already expecting something unpleasant from me. _Oh, joy!_

Finally satisfied, Heather retired to her position, hidden in the shadows by the nearest wall. Natalie smiled and gave her a brief nod, rewarding her efforts. Heather nodded with the same little smile; apparently Natalie had forgiven her for being a victim of Borgia's plots. She had to do it to remain congruent to her own logic and actions, if she was taking Skimmer back; then Heather, being a victim of the same plot, had to be forgiven as well.

"Mr. Cormel's private line, how may I help you?" A masculine voice, pleasant, despite its seriousness and professionalism, could be heard through the speakers. The screen turned black the words _connected, awaiting video input _scrawled across the screen.

"Tony, this is Kimberly Tamwood. Is he available?" Kimberly's voice was courteous and polite. Nothing in her facade gave away the uneasiness and concern she was feeling. She had already noticed the glances the master vampires were giving me from time to time.

"I'm here, Kim. What happened?" We could hear Rynn's but the screen was still black.

"The dinner has turned into a formal meeting…" Kimberly answered politely. She didn't seem stressed, although I could feel she was. Just as I could feel Natalie's slight expectation and increasing amusement with the escalating tension and anger from Benedict, he was just waiting for a provocation to explode again. I just knew when her eyes stayed briefly on mine with a hint of mischief; she could sense him too in some way.

"I see… Tony, please let my next appointment know he will have to wait a little while, tend to him until I call you." Rynn dismissed his assistant.

"Yes, Mr. Cormel." Tony's faint voice was followed by the sound of a closing door. The screen came to life and Cormel appeared on it adjusting his tie. His image was as impeccable as ever, not a hair out of place. He had in front a short glass with two ice rocks and three fingers of what appeared to be whiskey.

"Good evening, Natalie, Augustus, Kim." He greeted. The three of them nodded and returned the salutation.

"First of all, Rynn… We had a little incident here." Natalie summarized Ingrid's attack. Rynn's face never changed, remaining merely mildly interested.

"I require explanations. My Scion just attempted to kill Natalie, Kimberly and myself. How is it that Borgia controlled her?" Augustus asked.

"She acquired a demon curse that allows her to enslave any living vampire she bites." Rynn explained.

"So… Was your child under her control when she stabbed Tamwood?" Augustus asked Natalie fixating his big golden eyes on her.

"Yes. DeLavine is clearly playing for her. He delivered Skimmer to Borgia on a silver platter. We know she wants to launch a full scale war. She was trying to cause Rynn and I to weaken ourselves by fighting each other, allowing her to sweep in afterwards and take over with minimal resistance. Fortunately, Rachel discovered that curse and was able to warn us. We know Borgia has to have at least a small number of unknowing and unwilling living vampire slaves working in each camarilla within this country. However, the cursed victims can be pointed out by the second sight of witches. Your entire entourage was formed by Borgia's moles…She controls them whenever she wants. That's why we put them to sleep." Natalie explained to him.

"All right, if that's the case then, why is your child here? If she's a puppet Freya can manage at her whims; then she should be asleep, as my Scion is now." Augustus observed with a shark smile. He knew he was onto something.

Rynn and Natalie chuckled at the same time.

"Ah, you're quicker than many others, Augustus." She said in good spirits.

"So, there's a way to free them from Freya's influence." The Texan master vampire deduced confidently.

"There is a way, yes." Rynn said laconically, uncompromisingly.

"I see." Augustus face was unreadable then he smiled slyly and moved quickly. I felt numbed and my body decided to stay still, my reaper side activated itself as always. Benedict was standing right besides me in the blink of an eye. "So, Freya was right. She suspected you had everything to do with it… She wants you badly, witch." He hissed in an attempt to frighten me. His body moved to get his back to Ivy, and the momentum turned me towards him. The moment his hands grabbed my upper arms, I felt the wave of emotions from the trapped soul intensifying at least four times. I knew he also felt it because he froze for a second forming a flabbergasted grimace. My face was as unreadable as his was before. He had his back towards my in-laws and Ivy; separating me from them, in a classic move to isolate me, but it gave me a clear view of them.

Ivy snarled already on her feet; her territorial vampire instincts kicking in, she was ready to pounce on him. I lifted my hands towards herin a placating gesture, by the sides of his body in front of me, asking her silently not to attack_. _This was an elder undead, much stronger than her and she had our baby inside._ "No, Ivy... you're pregnant, he doesn't care about our baby."_ I warned her sternly in her head, locking my eyes with hers, the rim of brown was nearly gone. She snarled again. Kimberly had stood as well as Natalie. Robert was already between Ivy and Augustus; protecting her, Kimberly pushed them both behind her. I nodded gratefully at her.

"Let her go, Augustus." Natalie warned coldly, placing her hand on his shoulder, by his side. She didn't apply much force. The female master vampire wanted to reason with him, but at the same time she couldn't allow something too bad to happen to me without at least appearing to try and protect me. She was the hostess, responsible for the safety of all her guests.

The Texan master vampire's features were at first dumbfounded; I could see his emotions plastered upon his face as he reacted to the touch on my skin in rapid succession: surprise, disbelief, joy, pain, anguish to anger again all that, in a matter seconds.

"What is this?" he demanded of me, ignoring Natalie's request as he hadn't even heard her (I was sure he hadn't). Clearly he still couldn't believe his own feelings and was overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster his soul was sending to him with a potency he hadn't felt in more than three thousand years.

"You know what it is, Augustus Ignatius Nathaniel Michael Benedict." My voice was void of any emotion. "I know what she did to you." My eyes turned to Kimberly. She was helping Robert to restrain my growling Ivy without harming her or our baby, not an easy feat. Skimmer was torn, she was happy and expecting Augustus to just kill me, but she was hurt because Ivy wasn't measuring the danger and was trying to rescue me from a master Vampire that could kill her. _"Please, honey, try to calm down, I'm fine!"_ I sent her another urgent private message.

"_He's going to pay for this!" _It was her not surprising and less than reassuring answer. _"You're mine; no one but me can touch you!"_ I felt my heart warming a bit. Even with my numbed senses, Ivy was possessive, and I liked it a lot, but I had to focus.

At last, seeing the Texan Master vampire wasn't complying with Natalie's request. Kimberly nodded to me.

"Do it." She said. Ivy tensed even more but stopped struggling to free herself. And Natalie pulled back, there was no way she was risking being caught in any magical crossfire. Of course Melissa and Isabella perked up; they also wanted to know what I discovered.

I raised my hands and my fingers moved on their own accord, while I muttered gibberish coming into my mind from wherever the reaper's memories were stored inside my head. Putting my finger pads over his cheeks softly, he froze as the current of emotions from his soul increased ten-fold with my willing contact. I could feel a slight current of energy going from my finger towards him, spreading out across his body searching him.

I could feel the spells causing every complexion amulet he had on him to deactivate, each popping like a balloon beneath my fingers. There were audible gasps from everyone in the terrace, except Ivy whom still was snarling and growling at him. Everyone watched wide eyed and open mouthed as they witnessed the Texan master vampire turning from a young businessman in his mid-twenties to a handsome teenage boy. It took several moments for them to regain their normally stoic expressions. Looking away from the audience I saw his clothes still were suitable for him, because he did nothing to augment his height, he was only about 6 inches shorter than me using 4 inches heels, so, he was almost my height. His body seemed a bit thinner, but his suit didn't seem too loose. He still looked good in the suit, a bit too formal for a teenager, but it became him, with his colors and his paleness.

I retrieved my hands from his face. Everyone could see the now boyish features contorting and twisting in outrage that I could understood completely. He had passed almost three and a half millennia hiding this from everybody. This was one of his deepest secrets, now it was all out, with an audience conformed by the enemies of her former mistress. And he knew the other secret was about to come to the light as well. I could feel his disappointment when my fingers left his skin and the intensity of the feelings diminished considerably to him.

"How?" Augustus' eyes hardened they were nothing but pitch black now. He decided quickly it wasn't time for questions anymore, but demands. His aura deployed in full strength. Someone gasped and I felt the tension on everyone growing exponentially, along with the fear from the living vampires and the witches. That was a more than impressive hunting aura for a boyish looking undead. He wasn't containing himself in the slightest; he had seen three millenniums pass by and right now, everybody knew it.

He moved fast and pushed me against the nearest wall, not too hard, he wasn't looking for physical damage yet; his aura was something I never felt before. Overwhelming, it wrapped around me, trying to suffocating me in the threat and maliciousness of the energy, the strength of it was almost toxic. He wanted me to fall on my knees and surrender to him. He wanted me out of my mind in fear, begging for my life.

"Give it to me!" his right hand clutched my throat with considerable force, to intimidate me even more for good measure, but I felt him containing his physical strength. He needed me conscious.

Unfortunately for him I was a reaper. I wasn't scared. I couldn't feel fear. And the vampires' auras didn't affect me any longer. I could see Ivy again, she was about to fight and I felt too the explosion of our baby's feelings.

"_Morgan!"_ I chastised her before she got feral and physical. _"Don't! If you move too hard, you will hurt mom!"_ I reminded her of the image of Ivy doubled in pain in our kitchen, back at home. _"I know you are angry and scared, but everything will be fine, little one."_ I cajoled her. "_Ivy, please calm down or she will be too angry to control herself…" _To make matters worse I felt too the stirring and snapping of Tammy's feelings, she was in touch always with her sister, and like it happened in our home, when one felt threatened, the other reacted the same way, I already was pitying Erica, the young vamp wasn't aware of this and she couldn't know what had her niece so upset.

"_But, Rachel, he's hurting you!" _my lover retorted with a mental snarl_. "Two can play the same game."_ she stopped fighting the gripping hands of her parents and her aura shot out of her in a surging wave that left even her parents and Natalie flabbergasted. It easily matched Augustus' aura. The fear coming from the witches and the other living vampires increased three fold.

Certainly the virus that the elemental magic had modified was having an empowering effect on all of Ivy's vampiric traits. I could feel the awe radiating from Skimmer and all the others living vampires despite the escalating violence of the situation we're. No living vampire had an aura that potent, that aggressive, it was reserved for the undead and older undead at that, auras grew with the age of the vampire. Every vamp there knew it wasn't genetics that gave Ivy her aura, Kimberly's was no where near as powerful, she was a very young undead, despite her millennium old line.

Ivy's hunting aura surrounded Augustus in a split second despite the good six feet between them. Then something else happened. A new surge that empowered Ivy's aura and made it even bigger and stronger than the one Benedict was pulling. He freed my throat and turned slightly to see the one defying him, expecting Natalie, he gasped when all he saw was my eerily still Ivy. Her parents had freed her and were standing two feet from her at her sides watching torn between horror, because she was defying an undead elder; wonder, at the power Ivy was wielding, and fear at how the others on the terrace would react, there is such a thing as being too powerful for your own good.

Augustus' shock was evident for a second, he wasn't expecting that Ivy could be a threat to him, now he had second thoughts, his aura stood against hers but Ivy kept going, her aura didn't back off, she was pissed that he had roughed me up a bit, he had menaced me. My lover would never let that go unpunished. Augustus' aura began to back off a bit, knowing he was at a disadvantage; Natalie would have to back up Ivy because he was the one starting the aggressions in her house. Besides he didn't know what was happening with Ivy, the boost she received had unbalanced the match enough to make him rein in his anger. I knew the boost had come from Morgan but without examining it carefully it probably looked as though Ivy had just been holding back, that, that was all her own power.

I could feel also the struggle and desperation from our baby witch, she was trying fruitlessly to reach a line, she wanted retaliate as well, to come and help her sister. But the silver restraint Claire gave us kept her cut off from the ley lines. She didn't like to feel so helpless, so unable to do anything to help. I sent her calming feelings, but she was frantic. I needed to calm first Morgan, in order to calm our little witch. It was overwhelming and marvelous how our babies acted and how powerful they were on their own even if they're so young and even unborn. Our gifted little babies, I couldn't suppress a proud smile.

"Don't stop." I asked my lover softly, unaffected by the warring auras all around. I was trying to calm my two daughters with my own attitude. "She's learning from you!" I said awed, moving from behind the elder boy Master vamp and walked to her. "Does it hurt you in any way?" I asked her quietly, going down on a knee to be closer to her baby bump, but still looking at her beautiful face.

"Nno, it only feels like… a current of energy… not my own, but working with me…" her hand touched her belly softly, alongside mine."What is she…?"

"It's marvelous. She is empowering your aura with her own, but it's clear that is two auras working together." Natalie said softly getting near us, her eyes and senses in full alert, trying to see everything. Augustus' aura retreated a bit more, he was too impressed and interested in what was happening, but he needed to defend form the ongoing attack he was receiving.

"She is learning to manage her aura, by mimicking yours, honey. You have to let her learn, you have to teach her how to use it…" I smiled to her from below. "It's ok, Morgan, no one is defying you anymore, little one… calm down, I'm proud of you; you haven't thrown a single punch this time" I softly caressed the baby bump, trying to reach through Tammy's rage as well.

"Are you saying that an unborn baby is pulling a hunting aura?" Augustus Benedict's pretty boyish features were dumbfounded once again, still enduring the hunting aura Ivy had deployed against him, now the anger evaporated beneath the weight of his astonishment.

"Yes, it's not the first time the baby has gone in to hunting mode, last time it was against me, when I tried to claim Ivy…" Natalie said. "It's truly amazing. Ivy, move your aura towards me, I want to see how it feels, last time she wasn't capable of aiming it, now the baby is controlling it with a clear purpose." She explained her desire.

"Ok…" Ivy clenched her jaws focusing. The bigger aura wrapped Natalie, but Morgan's stayed around the Texan master vampire, viciously; she was attacking at her full force, I literally could hear her cute snarls and growls. It was much smaller than Ivy's, but she was a baby still in her womb; it was a wonder of nature that she could pull it off at all.

"By the love of blood, she's focused entirely on you, Benedict." Natalie forced a sexy laugh. Ivy's aura was enough to make an elder as old as Natalie more than uncomfortable now; it was affecting her to a measure; good to know. Surely it was the reason Augustus left me free, thinking he was about to fight a very strong vampire. My Ivy was more than impressive.

"This is impossible! An unborn baby can't have an aura, much less one this strong… it's not enough to be a threat for an undead, but I know grown up living vampires unable of this strength." Augustus locked his eyes with Natalie's.

"But Ivy is a real threat… that's enough, Ivy." Natalie decided in a soft voice, she wanted to look strong at all times; it was a part of being a ruler and a leader, more when we're talking of vampires.

Ivy nodded and focused on restraining her aura, concerned for both our babies.

"See, sweetie? Do as mom is doing, we know you are angry, there's no reason to be, little one… come on, do as mom is doing and reign on your temper." I cajoled my baby vamp, stroking Ivy's belly over her dress. "We're proud of you, you are so smart, and so young, but you are learning. Mom is going to teach you a lot of things, sweetie… now calm down, and try to rest, try to sleep a bit, ah?" I continued to softly speaking to our baby as her aura started to retract at the same pace Ivy's did. _"Please, Tammy, calm down, Auntie Rica is about to cry… we're fine, fine. See? Morgan is calming down."_ I pleaded with our distressed baby witch.

"No, Rache, she's not retreating." Ivy told me suddenly surprised. Our baby's aura wrapped around me tightly. I blinked.

"Are you mad at me, little one?" I asked softly, I cooed, unable to contain myself. "I guess you're a lot like mom, sweetie. It wasn't like I was looking for trouble; trouble has a way of finding me, my love." I chuckled softly. The energy changed then. It wasn't scary or hostile anymore, it wasn't meant to be aggressive, but protective. The feeling on it changed from anger to love and possessiveness.

"And again she amazes me!" Natalie's voice was soft and admiring. "Now she's claiming you too by the only means she has, it screams 'mine' all over." She said authentically surprised.

"Of course I'm yours, little one, yours, your sister's and mom's, I belong to you three." I reassured her. "Now everybody knows; you made it clear love, now it's time for you to relax and rest. Go on, take a little nap." I whispered proudly, although I knew Tammy still wasn't as calm as Morgan. Our baby witch was very displeased with her helplessness and still was struggling to try and do something. She was strained; I cooed at her and sent her as much calm and reassurance as I could. Ivy joined me.

"_Please, Tammy, calm down, we'll be there very soon, be good to Auntie Rica, stop trying to do magic, we'll play with you as soon we are back."_ Ivy was saying to her. Finally Tammy seemed to give in, but she was still far from happy. I asked her to go to play with Erica for now, and had to let her go for now.

"It's ok, Rynn, Nothing happened… well, almost… Morgan has learnt to project her hunting aura." Kimberly said to the screen, I had tuned out everything. Rynn was demanding to know what was happening. "Ivy and Rachel are calming her down." There was a note of clear pride on her voice. This was her heir. The strongest living vampire the Tamwood line had, and she wasn't even born yet. Yes, our baby was going to be a legend.

"Please, take your seats; we'll be there in a second." Ivy said a bit uncomfortable. She knew all eyes were focused on us. I was still cooing at our baby, quietly. She offered her hand to me. I took it to get on my feet again, still caressing her belly softly with my free hand.

By the time we got to our places, I'd already missed Rynn's reaction to the Augustus' real looks.

"So, Rachel, what were you thinking?" Rynn asked me without any emotion. I put a hand on Ivy's shoulder. She tapped it with hers, allowing the answer.

"I didn't know until few minutes ago, Rynn. I thought the connection I felt was with his Scion, the same I felt to Skimmer before. But, it wasn't, even if the girl is in a worst place than Skimmer was. The claim on her is not active yet, maybe because our friend Z must be dead by now." I explained.

"Is she in time to be saved then?" Rynn asked.

"Yes, but only until tomorrow before midnight, after that there's no way of cutting her ties with Borgia." I said sternly.

"What about this? It was pretty rude of you to… unveil the real Benedict in such a way." Rynn added.

"Enough of this, I want my soul back, give it to me!" Augustus demanded harshly. That outburst had all the vampires almost gaping for a second.

"What?" Natalie frowned a little.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have it." I said softly.

"Liar! I know what I feel, you have my soul." The elder boy accused me, his voice steel.

There was a silence, only the very low growl Ivy let out broke it. Rynn wanted me to save vampire souls, and one elder was telling him I had a vampire soul in my possession. The shock etched on everybody's face was overwhelming for a second.

"Ivy?" Rynn's voice was stern.

"This is the result of plan A to rescue Skimmer's soul, Rynn…Rachel was having a nightmare today, I had to wake her up, it turned out it wasn't a nightmare, she was feeling something new. At the beginning she thought it was the connection she had with Mr. Benedict's Scion. But when we approached this building, she knew there was something else. The nearer she got, the stronger the feeling, she was allowed to pass some minutes by herself and she made new discoveries, I'm not aware of all of that yet…" she explained.

"Then let her explain to all of us, this is a very serious accusation Rachel." Rynn decided, he couldn't do anything else, he wasn't physically here to argue, we were on Natalie's territory and we were at stake, she was eager to know as well. Natalie was the bigger threat here. "Do you have Benedict's soul?"

"No. But I'm connected to it somehow. I believe it's binding magic. This morning I felt something strange, it affected my dream, as Ivy just told you, but I wasn't sure what it was. It was a sensation, a foreign feeling, a connection of sorts. I noticed when we were approaching here that I was caught in an underlying magical current, the nearer to Mr. Benedict, the stronger. Now that he touched me and I touched him physically, I knew that it is binding magic. I'm acting like a channel between him and the soul that used to reside in his body before his first death." I explained.

"Underlying magical current?" Melissa asked me with a frown.

"A continuous curse or spell put over said soul and his body, allowing him to feel a faint contact, I guess Z was the catalyst before but the moment plan A went to hell then I got the job magically. All binding contracts, charms and curses he had going on, passed on to me." I shrugged my shoulders once.

"But you said it yourself, the debts passed on to you, so his soul is yours." Natalie pointed coldly.

"The debts and the contracts, magically binding contracts at that, Natalie." I clarified softly. "There's has to be a reason why this undercurrent of ley line energy is connecting me to the soul and his body, I don't feel the weight of a debt, it's clear with Ingrid's soul, but it's very different from it." I said.

"What does that mean?" Benedict scowled at me.

"Oh!" Isabella sighed suddenly although in a very discrete way. No matter how low and discrete it might be, it was not passing unnoticed around any vampire.

"Isabella?" Natalie asked gently.

"A contract to keep the soul in touch with its body, it is of course a binding arrangement of sorts, but it doesn't demonstrate ownership of the soul." The softer twin witch said convinced.

"No?" Natalie frowned a bit.

"Custody arrangements?" Ivy asked me.

"I'm afraid so. You see, Ivy. It might be the soul he had animating his body before. However, he is not the rightful owner of that soul in a magical way…" I said and I heard his snarl. I looked at his half-blackened eyes. "I'm guessing this, so bare with me for little while, please." I asked of him, he nodded reluctantly "I'll start at the beginning, I became aware of a sort of ritual Freya likes to perform every few years, my sources wouldn't agree on if it was every decade or two, it is a cycle of sorts nonetheless..." I sighed sadly. "In this ritual she kills a dozen vampire younglings." I continued.

Augustus' scowl deepened as he clenched his jaws. He looked almost adorable if weren't for the undead vibe to him. I had to remind myself I just experienced a taste of his real power, no matter how handsome and cute little boy he resembled, he was an elder undead. An angry elder undead.

"I think Freya had demons preparing vessels for her, these vessels are soul-traps the demons have instructed her how to use. She chose going after younglings because they are the easier prey; they're naïve, faithful, trustful and already troubled by their own growing pains due to their awakening as teenagers to lust and blood lust. Once she kills the kids, their souls get trapped into the vessels, it can be any item, a rock, a flask, a statue, a ring, or other jewel, you name it…" I could feel all the stares on Benedict right now. I was staring him as well. "I guess her success depends on the subjects and her own speed. I would say easily she successfully captures at least 8 to 10 from the dozen souls every time she does it." I trailed off hoping he would confirm my words in some way.

"She captured 8 when it was my turn." Benedict acknowledged still scowling, knowing that everyone would guess by now, only for his looks, that he was one of her victims. "How did you know this? It is her best guarded secret".

"I guessed. I have good instincts when magic is involved. I didn't know an hour ago, I guessed when I saw you up close and personal." I said truthfully. "And I'm continuing guessing here, Freya has a number of souls and a number of undead at the end of the night. She waits until they're awake and thinking straight to make them an offer…" I shut up when I saw his outburst coming, his anger flared just before he interrupted me.

"You make it sound so innocent… she blackmailed all of us." Augustus said through clenched jaws. "Not all of us cared about our souls, in the group I was in only three of us agreed to do her bidding for a length of time. In return, at the end of the willing service time she was supposed to set our souls free. I can feel, I could always feel. Not the same as when I was alive, but I feel. My soul was safe. Cornelia tried to find her soul countless times; finally she discovered demons have our souls in the Ever After." He frowned. "But you have mine. How is that possible? Or she was misinformed?" he dared.

"It was a kind of collateral damage from my first plan to try and free Miss Claymore's soul; of course it involved dealing with a demon. Things went downhill pretty badly and I ended up inheriting a demon's estate. Plan A backfired badly." I sighed. "Anyways that was my last point…There's no place on this world a skilled and resourceful undead vampire can't get into one way or another. So Freya had to find a safe place to storage the souls she had collected. The Ever After is the safest place since only demons can go there freely." I stated convincingly.

"Freya killed Cornelia when she tried to make deals with demons to recover her soul." Augustus seemed way into memory lane, but the glint on his eyes told me he was aware of me and the rest of the crowded terrace.

"Wait a moment, please… If only three of them accepted the deal, what about the rest of the souls?" Skimmer asked Natalie, not the Texan master vampire.

"Easy, she uses those souls to pay the demons for their hard work and her deals with them, she counts on those refusing to heed to her blackmail. A soul is a soul regardless its source. Souls are very valued items for any demon. They can use them to pass smut on to, to make artifacts like the focus, and even to consume as meals to bolster their magic and strength. So, souls are treasured and precious items for demons, it's the very thing they are looking for when they deal with humans and witches, to gain their souls after they are able to mark them thrice. Normally they trade giving the person favors or wishes in exchange for each mark. I didn't make the rules, so don't ask why three, it's a powerful, meaningful number but then so is seven." I answered her question.

"It would be an endless debate." Melissa nodded knowingly.

"I only heard of one, an undead much older than myself who received his soul back from Freya. He went away, no one has seen him since, so maybe Freya killed him after all… she was going to kill me after this, it was my last assignment. Finding out what were you up to." The elder boy didn't hide his chagrin at that thought.

"It would not surprise me, as you said; she set you up to die here one way or the other." Natalie nodded. "She gains nothing by giving back the souls, plus she can use them to make new deals with the demons." She was pensive but I could feel her anger and disapproval for the way Borgia acted. "Why keep them then in custody arrangements with demons?"

"I think Augustus just answered that question, Natalie. He feels, as long as he does, he knows his soul is still out there, waiting for him to recover it, giving him reassurance that at the end he will have it back" Kimberly said. "Borgia has to have those souls in that state of semi-connection with their owners in order to remind them of the deal they have with her." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Indeed." Rynn sighed sadly. "Rachel, is there a way of recovering Benedict's soul?"

"Well, as I said, this is a kind of custody arrangement, the demon keeps the soul in Ever After, but it must give it back to its owner on request, if Freya finds out I'm keeping one of her souls …" I trailed off when Augustus snarled again. "Magically she is the owner of your soul, Mr. Benedict; it is the way this works. If she finds out then she will kill me without a second thought." I said worriedly. Ivy clasped my hand squeezing it gently in a comforting way.

"That's a fair assumption, she wants you badly, Rachel Morgan, I didn't know why, I've never been very aware of witches, Freya hunts down witches for fun. It is one of her obsessions. But I have never seen her so interested in anyone as she is in you. Now I have an idea why, you already crippled her plans for taking over half of this country or maybe even all of it when you got the focus, and now, you have guessed her most guarded secret and mine just like that. You're dangerous… Inherited the state of a demon? That's a first. I don't care how you managed to do that. Is there any way I can get my soul back?" He demanded sternly.

"Well, there's only one way that I know of..." I sighed warily.

"I'm listening."

"As it stands, Freya is the owner of your soul, if she dies without a magical heir to claim her magical possessions, because if there's an heir you have to kill him or her as well, then there will be not legal owner to your soul and I can free it without breaching the contract. You don't play with demon's contracts, they're cursed to punish the one that tries to cheat on them. The risk isn't just to me but also to the soul, it maybe damaged or even destroyed if the contract is breached." I stated sternly.

"So, Freya must die. She hasn't ever planned on dying in anyway, and she has no heirs, she likes to keep everyone on their toes, trying to gain her favor or avoid her grudges. There are always two or three favorites, but she changes them as randomly and quickly as she decides on her wardrobe." Augustus said forming an evil smirk, he was sure of that fact. That shark like smile on such angelical features showed the real age he had for a moment, there was no way of considered him a child with that expression in his handsome face. "Killing her is not an easy feat… she's strong and she trusts no one." He frowned then in concern, returning to his adorable troubled teen grimace.

"Besides, she has a lot of unknowing slaves all over the place ready to get in the way of any harm coming to her." Rynn Cormel added.

"Well, I will help kill her as much as I can. By now she has surely taken over my own camarilla. I need my people free of her control."

"That can be done quickly, but only until midnight tomorrow, after that there's nothing we can do for them." Natalie informed him sternly.

"Why only until tomorrow night?" The elder boy wasn't pleased with the answer.

"Because it was the best deal we could get from a demon willing to make a counter curse for the curse Borgia gives with her bites." Natalie said. "It came with a limited time to use it, standard time for potions. Seven days, the last day will begin in just a couple of hours; after midnight tomorrow we won't have the ability anymore." She explained.

"Why don't you call the demon again?" the Texan master vampire asked unfazed by the explanation.

Natalie shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"I am not the expert on the matter. I do not make deals with demons, Augustus. I certainly do not trust them. Only twice in my life have tried to, and twice I had been ripped off. Never again for me." She said almost charmingly.

_Damn! She's setting me up. She's washing her hands._ I thought to myself. I wished I could glare at her. I could feel the gaze of the half blackened golden orbs of Benedict on me, burning me with his displeasure and his scorn. I couldn't lose my cool in here. Instead I took a moment to let my eyes roam the clear sky and took a discrete deep breath filled with the perfume of the garden below, it was an astonishing view. The full moon was still in place for only one more day before it would begin to fade into the next phase. Werewolves were surely having a good time in the forests, well not in these forests, I suspect Natalie didn't tolerate wolves on her lands but other forests across the world. A stray thought of my pack came to my mind. I hoped they were together and fine.

"So, it was her again." Augustus said and looked at Cormel in the screen. "Why don't you order her to get more anti - curse from the demon? You said it, Freya has untold numbers of unwilling slaves, weakening her must be also a main goal for you?" he threw the words at Cormel.

"The price of the counter curse was extremely high; we have used all of our bargaining chips already. Feel free to do it yourself if you want, I will not risk Rachel again. Besides she has already saved you as well. Ivy stopped your Scion from killing you thanks to her warnings. We can come to an understanding, Natalie, is there a way we can do this privately?" Rynn came to my rescue; he knew I wasn't the most controlled person.

"But of course! We can go to my office. That way the younglings can dine out here, it's getting late, they must be hungry." Natalie showed off one more time her humane side, you couldn't think of a more gracious hostess.

Kimberly went with Augustus and Natalie, Heather carried the briefcase and we were free for dinner. Ivy pulled me into the chair next to her at her right.

"How come you're still alive?" Melissa asked me with a little glare.

"Sheer luck?" I retorted humorously.

"That must be it." Isabella giggled, obviously those two weren't letting me out their sight while I was near their master.

Ivy pulled me against her side wrapping her arm around my waist. I put my head briefly on her shoulder.

"Are you ok? Did Morgan hurt you?" I asked quietly, not that it mattered, it was useless in a place plagued with vampires, but the illusion of privacy was there at least.

"No, But I'm feeling a bit tired." She admitted.

"You will need blood soon, honey." Carefully I took in the shadows under her eyes and I ached to look after her. The past few hours had been hard on her and I worried that Morgan would be sapping Ivy's energy even more then normal as she replaced the energy she had used creating her hunting aura. Ivy was 'eating' for two and I didn't want her wearing herself out.

"I can wait until the negotiations are over. Remember, Natalie wants you at the top of your game." Ivy sighed resigned. I considered arguing with her but in the end I decided to let it go for now and get dinner out of the way.

Luckily for us Robert carried the conversation at the table. The dinner was magnificent, the dishes, the wine perfectly combined. Although Skimmer was there and I could say Robert really liked her. _Give me more reason to hate her, please. If you don't have anything nice to say shut it, Rache._ I reminded myself of the place and the timing_. Wrong place, wrong time to make even more enemies._

Besides, the twin witches kept glancing at me, one with veiled admiration (Isabella), the other with envy and scorn (Dear Melissa). To top off the cake with a nice cherry, my little witch was restless, angry and displeased. I couldn't wait to get to her side to try and calm her, before she could set off Morgan's temper again.

We were finishing off dessert when the undead vampires rejoined us. They had decided that I would perform the anti-curse on the living vampires affected by Borgia's bites; starting with Ingrid, of course. Augustus wanted them free immediately. As for the undead in his entourage, well, they would remain sleeping for the time being, while the Texan master vampire would devise something to prove their loyalties. He wanted to bring more people from his camarilla to clean up. We still had a day. Although the time restriction left on the curse meant there was not time for us to sit and chat on the terrace, instead of a polite chitchat we went straight to work removing took me only 30 minutes to free the Scion and the 8 living vampires.

Nevertheless, the uneasiness that I felt since I fell through the lines in the early hours of the morning just increased with every passing minute.

"Well, it's done… shouldn't you be happier than you look?" The slightly derisive question from Skimmer made my frown grown.

"Dear heart?" Ivy's tone was placating, she knew my temper.

"I have a bad feeling; it simply grows more and more as the time goes by…" I told my lover before feeling a scorching sensation burning me from the inside. I almost tripped as a debilitating wave hit me, only Ivy's strong arms stopped me from hitting the floor.

"What is it, dear?" she was concerned now, I was recognizing the feeling; it wasn't mine. I felt like a cold stream was just pouring down my spine as soon I tapped into my daughter's feelings. My little witch was crying, without understanding why she was feeling so bad, memories of her transformation hit me from her troubled mind, she was very afraid. I gained my wits at least physically, standing securely on my own feet, but still leaning a bit on my vamp.

"Tammy! She's sick!" I said afraid myself. A myriad of thoughts rushed through my mind. I had spent most of my time in hospitals up as a child, until Trent's father conducted illegal genetic treatments. _Please, please don't let Tammy have inherited Rosewood syndrome from me._ I clutched Ivy's arm, needing the reassurance.

Robert's cell-phone ringed and he answered swiftly. I couldn't hear what was said on the other side of the line, but I saw his face changing to a concerned grimace. As well as Ivy's.

"Calm down, don't be afraid and get a grip, Rica." Ivy said firmly, it looked like my sister in law was hysterical. "We're coming now… Undress her and put it in the tub with cool water, not cold, cool." Ivy said already walking, my hand now locked in hers. Robert sighed relieved Ivy took over on the matter, he didn't know what to do. "Sorry, Natalie. That's my baby, we have to go. Could you order our car?" She asked already dialing her father's cellular phone. She had snatched it from him as soon he finished the call. It wasn't long, maybe two rings when she spoke again. "Claire, Thank God, Tammy seems to have a very high fever we need you…" she said taking control of the situation."Really, are you here?... "

"Yes, she's personally taking care of several delicate plates for the party, they need specific preparation in situ for a couple of days. I'll arrange someone to show her the way to the cottage, come on…" Natalie said already walking with us; she was concerned as well, it was her place. It would be suspicious if Tammy or any of her guests got a mysterious disease; even bad luck wouldn't be acceptable. Kimberly and Robert were right behind us as we took off almost running for the cars.


End file.
